Being a user of several Microsoft applications, you must be aware of its commonly used email client: MS Outlook. If not, then you have come to the right place. Today we are going to discuss about Outlook, Outlook Express and the difference between them in this article.
What is Microsoft Outlook?
MS Outlook is a desktop-based e-mail client present in the Microsoft suite package, which includes features like calendar, journals, task manager and note making. It can be used as a stand-alone application, or with an Exchange Server or Microsoft Share Point Server. All the data of Microsoft Outlook stores in .pst file.
What makes it different from other E-mail Clients?
- Integration within E-mails, contacts, calendars thus making the user to access everything at a single place and giving a consistent experience over the mailbox.
- Outlook allows you to work upon different accounts with data in same folders and working through same set of rules.
- One of the most prominent features of MS Outlook is Outlook Exchange account. Outlook Exchange account provides user with the ability to work upon their mails like replying to mails and saving it in Draft, deleting mails, contacts, tasks, etc., even when it is not connected to any server. A copy of the file is created (.ost data file), which is saved on the computer allowing the user to work upon it. As soon as the connection is established with the server, all the changes made in the data file are automatically synchronized on the server.
What is Outlook Express?
Like Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express is also an email client allowing the user to send, receive, manage and save mails or messages but with no additional features apart from news-groups. Versions of Internet Explorer 4.0 and 6.0 included Outlook Express and after that, Windows XP comes with Outlook Express as its default mail client. Its stores data in .dbx file.
However, the later versions of Windows replaced Outlook Express with Windows Mail, integrating it with Windows messenger. Most of the time people get confused with MS Outlook and Outlook Express thinking Outlook Express as a lower version of Outlook not knowing that both of them are made on completely different code base.
Its features involved:
Keeping track of incoming and outgoing mails. Faulty incoming mails can be avoided by blacklisting e-mails but Outlook Express includes an additional feature of scanning outgoing mails so that infected mails are not sent out.But, Outlook Express is a discontinued email client.
Difference Between MS Outlook (.pst) and Outlook Express (.dbx)
| Outlook | Outlook Express |
| Outlook comes with both Microsoft Office and Microsoft Exchange Server. | Outlook Express comes directly with your Windows Operating System. |
| Outlook includes your entire mailbox i.e., e-mails, contacts, calendars, journals, etc. | It comprises only of E-mails and news-groups of the e-mail account configured with it. |
| It is a desktop-based e-mail client designed primarily for business users. | It is a desktop-based e-mail client designed primarily for business users. |
| Outlook can be configured through SMTP, POP3, IMAP, Exchange Server, etc., i.e., all the other systems for standards-based communication supporting MAPI. Also supports voice-mails. | It allows SMTP, POP3 and IMAP for account configuration. |
| Setting up a small business, handling contacts, mails, journals side by side, all at one place, then MS Outlook is the most suited. | If you are interested in only basic e-mailing then Outlook Express is a suitable mail client. |
| Ability to enhance in-box rules facilities to create and manage mails, even contacts. | Provides in-box rules facilities to manage only e-mails. |
| Provides rule for both incoming and sending e-mails. | Provides rules for only incoming mails. |
| Outlook is considered robust and a full filled mail client application. | Outlook Express is not that much robust with lesser features of e-mail client as compared to Outlook. |
When to choose What?
Outlook Express: If you are a home user and your work being limited to only sending/receiving mails then Outlook Express is fine to work on.
MS Outlook: Whether a home user or a business user, Ms Outlook serves for all types of work facilities and is a full fledged E-mail Client Software.
So, if you’re the one who is thinking Microsoft Outlook is a better option to manage your emails and other account information then, you need to migrate all your data from Outlook Express to Outlook. But, doing so manually is quite complicated and might lead you to permanent data loss condition. Hence, it is recommended to use Outlook Express to Outlook Converter to export Outlook Express emails to Outlook without any technical assistance and data loss.