Outlook Express
| Component of Microsoft Windows | |
.png){kind=logo} | |
 Outlook Express 6 in Windows XP | |
| Introduced in | Windows 98 |
|---|---|
| Last included in | Windows XP Windows Server 2003 |
| Replaced by | |
| Windows Mail | |
Outlook Express is an e-mail and news client, originally released as Microsoft Internet Mail and News with Internet Explorer 3 in mid-1996. With the release of Internet Explorer 4, the program was improved and renamed to Outlook Express, and was distributed and installed by default on Windows under that name from Windows 98 onwards. It was also made available for Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51, and Windows NT 4.0. It was replaced Windows Mail in Windows Vista, which was itself replaced with Windows Live Mail with the release of Windows 7, then with a new modern app in Windows 8, 8.1, 10 and early versions of Windows 11, and finally with the new Outlook for Windows since 2024.
Contrary to common misconception, despite sharing part of its name with Microsoft Outlook, an email program bundled with Microsoft Office since Office 97, Outlook Express does not share a codebase with Outlook proper.
History[edit | edit source]
Pre-release[edit | edit source]
An early version of Microsoft Internet Mail and News, codenamed "Athena PIM", is included in Windows Nashville build 999.
Microsoft Internet Mail and News 1.0[edit | edit source]
Microsoft Internet Mail and News was initially released in mid-1996 with Internet Explorer 3. This version is the first to include the "MORTIMER" easter egg. Open the About dialog, click in the version table on any file listed there and type MORTIMER while holding the ⇧ Shift key. It is also available in version 2.0 and early versions of Outlook Express 4.0.
Microsoft Internet Mail and News 2.0[edit | edit source]
Microsoft Internet Mail and News 2.0 was released later in 1996 with Internet Explorer 3.02.
Outlook Express 4.0[edit | edit source]
Outlook Express 4.0 was the first version to carry the Outlook Express branding as part of Internet Explorer 4 in 1997. It also shipped with Windows 98 by default.
Outlook Express 5.0[edit | edit source]
Outlook Express 5.0 was released on 18 March 1999 and was subsequently included with Internet Explorer 5.0 and Windows 98 Second Edition and bundled with Office 2000.
Outlook Express 5.01[edit | edit source]
Outlook Express 5.01 was released on 8 November 1999 and subsequently included with Internet Explorer 5.01 and Windows 2000 and bundled with Office XP as a requirement prior to install.
Outlook Express 5.5[edit | edit source]
Outlook Express 5.5 was released in June 2000 and bundled with Internet Explorer 5.5 and Windows Me.
Outlook Express 6.0[edit | edit source]
Outlook Express 6.0 was released in 2001 and bundled with Internet Explorer 6 and Windows XP.
Outlook Express 7.0 and eventual replacements[edit | edit source]
Outlook Express 7.0 was seen in pre-release builds of Windows Vista. However, with the development reset of Longhorn, Outlook Express 7.0, along with the WinFS feature it heavily relied on, were both scrapped. Outlook Express 6.0 was instead enhanced in later builds, and eventually evolved into Windows Mail. In Windows 7, it was moved to the Windows Live Essentials suite, improved with various features (most notably integration with other Windows Live services), and eventually became Windows Live Mail.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
Athena PIM of Windows Nashville build 999
Internet Mail of Internet Explorer 3.03 (16-bit)
Outlook Express 4.0
Outlook Express 7 in Windows Longhorn build 4074
Icon seen in Windows XP, pre-reset Longhorn builds up to build 4066 and Windows Vista betas up to build 5435
