Tactical Panda IT Services - eMail and the Internet

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e.Mail & The Internet

Just about everyone who uses the internet uses e.mail these days. It is quick, convenient, easy to use (once you have practiced a few times) and accurate.

There are several ways to send an e.mail, most people these days use Outlook Express with Windows XP or Windows Mail with Windows Vista, which arrives with your browser package by default. It is supplied by Microsoft and has been designed for everyday use.

The alternatives to Outlook Express is Outlook, and this is used almost exclusively by people who want a little more than just a way to send mail, and Windows Live Mail (XP) or Windows Mail (Vista). Outlook comes with the Microsoft Office package, which has to be bought as an additional software item.

Some people use a browser-based e.mail facility which requires Navigator or Explorer. The most famous of these is the MSN owned Hotmail service and AOL (America On Line) which are both free, but supported by banner adverts and occasional 'pop-ups'.

When you first sign up to your Internet Service Provider (or ISP), you will be given an e.Mail address as part of the package. When you install the e.Mail address, your Outlook Express will be set up automatically with the basic information to allow you to send and receive e.Mail. The best way to check this has been done is to open up Outlook Express, click on 'Tools', then 'Accounts'. You will see the account listed. Click (once) on the account, then click 'Properties'. The first 'tab' will show General or a brief set of details, then there is the Servers tab which outlines the POP2, SMTP details, Account Name and Password. Notice how the password has been disguised so someone looking over your shoulder can't read it!

The next tab is 'Connection' which states how you connect to the internet to send and receive. This is usually the name of your ISP. Finally there is the 'Security' and 'Advanced' tabs, we don't recommend you attempt to alter them!

Let's get back to using Outlook. Personally I use Outlook more than Outlook Express, mainly because they do a whole lot more than Express as I mentioned earlier. All you have to do to launch either programme is double-click on your desktop icons or using the 'Start' menu like you do with Internet Explorer.

On the left hand side you can see the icons for sending, storing and deleted messages. To write an e.mail, click on the top left-hand side icon that says 'Create Mail'. A box will open with your e.mail address already placed in the 'From' box.

All you have to do is type in the recipient's e.mail address in the 'To' box, give your e.mail a subject, then type your message.

Once Express is open is will look something like the picture below. As you can see, this page is set up so that the e.mail arrives in the top (white) panel, with the details in the panel below it. This is the 'In' box.

By the way, the CC box means 'Carbon Copy', in other words if you want to send a copy of the e.mail to another recipient, you enter their e.mail address here. There is also a facility available called BCC which means 'Blind Carbon Copy'. The recipient also gets a copy of the message, but the TO and CC recipients don't know it was sent to them as well.

Very useful if you want to copy someone in on the 'conversation' without the principal recipients knowing about it!

The message box looks something like this one. All you have to do then is click 'Send' and off it goes. If you are offline your system will prompt you to go online to send the message.

Alternatively you can wait until you need to go online again, for example when you are using the Internet for other reasons, and then send the message. If it is urgent of course, you will want to send it straight away!

Another useful feature is the Spell Checker. If, like most people, your typing skills are not quite up to Personal Assistant standard, then it's worth using this facility to make sure you don't make a grammatical fool of yourself!

To access this facility, simply click on on the 'ABC Spelling' icon or press the F7 button on your keyboard before you send your message.

The message is received almost immediately, although you must remember that the recipient must be online themselves to get it! This statement is also true of Browser based e.mail systems, but more about them later.

Using 'Outlook' is very similar in some respects, but different in others! The mail system is almost identical, but what you can do with Outlook is more advantageous to business users as they also incorporate a calander, to-do lists, tasks and so on. Outlook also has a very handy junk mail filter, which should be checked occasionally just in case it gets a little bit over-ambitious and dumps an e.mail you wanted!

By the way, Outlook and Outlook Express are called 'POP3' systems (means Post Office Protocol). If you want a new e.mail account you have to visit a provider (like www.virgin.net) and sign up for an account. If we take Virgin as an example, we will tell you how to do it on the next page.

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