XP/Vista-compatible clients for modern email services?

[AstroSkipper]

9 hours ago, Dave-H said:

Am I right in assuming that, like the original Outlook Express, OE Classic does store the mailboxes and messages locally in dbx and eml format?

 

7 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

When I get back to my desktop computer, I'll check where the mailboxes and messages are stored.

All mailboxes and messages are stored in the folder C:\Documents & Settings\YourUsername\Local Settings\Application Data\OEClassic\User\Main Identity\ in the form of db files.

Edited October 7, 2024 by AstroSkipper

[Dave-H]

Thanks.
That's good to know.
Did you mean "db" files, or was that a typo?
Outlook Express mailbox files are 'dbx' files.

[BAW30s]

I'm back after 3 weeks away!

I have also just found that Outlook Express was no longer able to access my Hotmail messages, so I tried Dream Mail, and discovered that it installed successfully on XP but an error message told me that the ModernAuth component only works in Windows 10 and 11.

I then tried OE Classic, and managed to activate ModernAuth in the way Astroskipper describes above.  The old MyPal is my default browser, and it surprisingly even worked through that (I am also still accessing the Hotmail Basic Layout browser version through it for the moment, although I was expecting it to be cut off in August).

I am finding that OE Classic works pretty well: it seems a bit slower than Outlook Express, but maybe that's inevitable with more complex polling.  It looks wonderfully familiar: I am surprised Microsoft let them use an interface so like Outlook Express, but then imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery.

Resource usage is quite low, remaining in single figures when in use even on this 22 year old rig.

To answer Dave-H's question, every folder has an associated mbx file, which stores the messages, and a db database file (see image).  According to https://filext.com/file-extension/MBX mbx files are Outlook Express mailbox files, but, as Dave-H, says, mine have all been dbx files.  Maybe mbx was a format used in an earlier version?

The free version functions effectively; by default it does a spell check when sending a message which only works in the pro version, so a message pops up linking to the payment page.  This can easily be suppressed by turning off the spell check in Options, but a more irritating feature is that every message is preceded by this advertisement:

"New Outlook Express and Windows Live Mail replacement - get it here:
https://www.oeclassic.com/ "

The paid version costs £35.60, but you only get a three year subscription, not full ownership.

I'm thinking about it...

[AstroSkipper]

On 10/8/2024 at 12:41 PM, Dave-H said:

Thanks.
That's good to know.
Did you mean "db" files, or was that a typo?
Outlook Express mailbox files are 'dbx' files.

Here is a quotation from the OE Classic online help:

Quote

DB file (e.g. Inbox.db, _Folders.db) SQLite database (public domain) - to read it use any SQLite management tool - for a list of such tools take a look at SQLite management tools

MBX file (e.g. Inbox.mbx) OE Classic format (public domain), used for storing raw message data (text, HTML and attachments). Messages are stored one after another in one large file. Each message is preceded by a plain-text header line indicating 32-bit message length, followed by raw binary message data. To read this file you can use any text editor but note that some messages may store binary characters which some text editors may not read well. For this reason, MBX file should be treated as binary file.

The advantage of these open formats is that they can be easily read by other tools.

[Dave-H]

Just to report, I'm now using OE Classic on XP, and it's great!
It fetches the messages from my Hotmail account with no problems whatsoever, and as I'm only using it with one account, the free version is fine.

[BAW30s]

That's great!  The free version does work, but the drawbacks are the advertisement it puts at the start of each message, which doesn't look too good in more formal communications, and the fact that it partly reverts to its standard settings every time you log on. Thus I was avoiding the ad that comes up when sending a message by turning off spell checking, but it comes back from the start of the next session.  I am therefore thinking of paying for it, but was checking to see how Roy Tam is getting on with Mail News first.

[Dave-H]

I will be very seldom replying to messages sent to my Hotmail account, so advertising on the sent messages with the OE Classic free version is not an issue for me.
If I do need to reply I can do that from Aurora (the in-alpha Eudora replacement) on Windows 10 where I have a proxy set up for OAuth2.
As a message reader on XP, the free version will do just fine.

[Tomcat76]

3 hours ago, BAW30s said:

(...) the drawbacks are the advertisement it puts at the start of each message, (...) and the fact that it partly reverts to its standard settings every time you log on. (...) I am therefore thinking of paying for it

The question is: will getting the paid version insure that all settings are preserved?  I don't mind paying 44.77 Euro Moneys for a 3-year subscription, but not when it has bugs like that.
 
Also, it's unclear to me what will happen if I "forget" to extend the subscription in time.  Will the program delete all but the main identity?  Will it remove every email account created after the second?

 

4 hours ago, BAW30s said:

I (...) was checking to see how Roy Tam is getting on with Mail News first.

+1.  I'm curious to see what'll come out of it.

[BAW30s]

Well, according to the Order page the advert is definitely not in the paid version, plus if spell checking is enabled then the associated order nag will not appear.  As for the settings not reverting, that is an assumption on my part, fingers crossed!  Although I like the program, I have found a bit of instability when multiple attachments are being added, so I always save a draft at that stage.  That was a peculiarity I had already been experiencing latterly on Outlook Express, which does make me wonder if it is a glitch in my OS and how much code the two programs have in common.

As to what would happen if the sub isn't paid after three years, again that remains to be seen: that issue would not concern me overly as I only intend to use it with one account, but it could be important if you plan to create multiple identities.

I was also curious to see if the mbx could be imported back into Outlook Express, but so far none of the import options I have tried work.

I also tried Mail News today and found that it still doesn't support ModernAuth for MS accounts.

I'm also wondering if something like the Credential Manager described here offers any possibilities for reviving older programs, but would have to leave that to the experts...

[dmiranda]

Very nice discussion. I wonder if it would be safe to use outlook from MS Office 2007 professional. I use the (local) office products, not outlook (which I only fire up when I need to explore emails stored in old accounts different jobs forced me to use). 

This may make it worthwhile to try @Cixert's tutorial at

Cheers!

Edited October 13, 2024 by dmiranda

[Dave-H]

I would be very surprised indeed if the version of Outlook in Office 2007 supported OAuth2.
Surely it went out of support long before OAuth2 was a thing!
You would need a recent version of Outlook, and even the last to work on XP, from Office 2010, would be very unlikely to work.

[Tomcat76]

You'd need at least Outlook 2013.  Also, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016 require registry edits to force-enable ModernAuth:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/troubleshoot/administration/modern-authentication-configuration

From what I read, it also only works over IMAP and you need the auto-account-setup wizard as opposed to the old-style one in Control Panel.  An app password is still required for POP3, in which case Outlook 2007 should work too.
 
Edit: someone mentioned it still wouldn't work for them until they allowed Office to update itself.

Edited October 13, 2024 by Tomcat76

[Dave-H]

I don't think that app passwords work any more with Microsoft e-mail.

[dmiranda]

Thanks for the (dissapointing ) info.

 

[silverni]

The latest version of EssentialPIM works in WinXP, although there is no official support.
It supports Microsoft OAuth2.
It is a complex system, but it has good documentation and a very active forum:
https://www.essentialpim.com/features/overview/pro-vs-free

At the moment I still use Outlook2003 as my main mail client, in Microsoft accounts I set up forwarding to a Gmail mailbox.

In the Gmail accounts you can also set up an OAuth2 POP3 connection to an external account, also Microsoft; for each Gmail account only one external account (Gmailify):
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6304825

You can also import messages and contacts via OAuth2 and POP3 (ShuttleCloud)
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/21289

Regards