XP/Vista-compatible clients for modern email services?

[Mathwiz]

OK, from the first link, it appears athenian200 is creating another UXP-based email client, currently called Epyrus, and wants to implement not only OAuth2, but also full M$ Exchange support. Ambitious, but if successful (or even if only the OAuth2 part is successful), it could (hopefully) be ported to XP as with MailNews and IceDove.

And the second might help me, even though I'm not on Gmail, because my work email domain isn't at office365.com. Possibly part of the reason why MailNews didn't work for me. This is a UXP PR so it should find its way into MailNews as well as Epyrus. Edit: Unfortunately, no joy for me; even after the fix, MailNews still wrongly claims outlook.office365.com does not support OAuth2.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Mathwiz

[AstroSkipper]

On 2/15/2023 at 2:17 AM, AstroSkipper said:

But another candidate has long since appeared on the horizon that meets and even exceeds all my requirements. And that is @roytam1's email client MailNews, which is ultimately based on Thunderbird 52. This email client has a real, working Oauth2 protocol that makes accessing Gmail easy. For me, simply perfect and the best choice for Windows XP at the moment..  More about that in the next days!

Cheers, AstroSkipper

On 2/19/2023 at 8:48 PM, Mathwiz said:

Stick with what works. MailNews also supports several useful add-ons, although editing install.rdf may be necessary to install them.

As promised, some further information about MailNews. It's now my standard email client in Windows XP. All my email service providers are supported by MailNews. I talk about GMX, WEB.DE, Gmail and Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail, now the light web version of Microsoft 365). It works without any problems, simply great. Here are some screenshots from my installation: 





I installed a lot of extensions from both Binary Outcast and Thunderbird.net, without any modifications, no editing of install.rdf, right out of the box. Furthermore, I activated the embedded calendar Lightning. I am very happy with MailNews, no cumbersome and heavy loading web interfaces anymore.  This means I can fully recommend MailNews. 

Cheers, AstroSkipper 

Edited February 27, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[UCyborg]

Regarding Gmail, if I was reading correctly, access without OAuth2 is not possible anymore? If so, it seems to be enforced only for personal accounts. My corporate Gmail account still works with just classic username and password. At least I don't remember I had to change anything in the email client, I'll edit the post tomorrow after checking again to see if it's really the case.

We have one application at the company that can send emails, but doesn't support OAuth2, they had to enable application password for it on Gmail side. It just generates unique password for application to use to authenticate with SMTP.

[AstroSkipper]

5 hours ago, UCyborg said:

Regarding Gmail, if I was reading correctly, access without OAuth2 is not possible anymore?

That's correct. Only username and password is not sufficient anymore. The email client has to support OAuth2 or app password to access a Google account. Gmail's web interface still works with username and password, of course. And Android's Gmail app works without any problems if the user has logged in their Google account. I mention this as I am an Android user for nearly ten years. Windows XP and Android (and rather rarely Linux) are my main OSs.

5 hours ago, UCyborg said:

We have one application at the company that can send emails, but doesn't support OAuth2, they had to enable application password for it on Gmail side. It just generates unique password for application to use to authenticate with SMTP.

For example, DreamMail Pro (I wrote about this email client in some previous posts) also works with Gmail under Windows XP, but only via app password, at least in the version 6.6.5.9. No real OAuth2. MailNews supports a real OAuth2. It opens an own window to allow access to your Google account. No app password needed. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[AstroSkipper]

A small update information! 

DreamMail Pro is now available in version 6.6.6.2. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

To force the installer of DreamMail Pro 6.6.6.2 to use English instead of Chinese as the installer language, I updated my small loader that does this when it calls up the setup program. It must be executed in the same directory in which the setup file is located with its original file name dmpro_setup6.6.6.2.exe. Here is the download link of my loader Force_En_Install_DM_Pro_6662.exe: https://www.mediafire.com/file/6byu8gx1g996m3r/Force_En_Install_DM_Pro_6662.7z/file
Although some virus scanners detect this file as malicious, it is just a false-positive as always. Use my loader to force an English install, only if you trust me, of course! 

Cheers, AstroSkipper

[Mathwiz]

5 hours ago, UCyborg said:

Regarding Gmail, if I was reading correctly, access without OAuth2 is not possible anymore?

Only personal accounts for now. More info from Google:

But if you enable 2-Step Verification, you can get around the new requirements with an "App Password:"

 

[Mathwiz]

11 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

With all due respect, I see it a bit differently, and your statement (underlined by me) does not describe the situation correctly. There are two email clients that work with Windows XP and Vista and can handle app password or Oauth2. And MailNews in particular. For me, it's completely sufficient. Its Oauth2 protocol works great with Gmail. It should be mentioned that not everyone needs a Microsoft 365 account in pre-Win 7 systems.  And its light web version Outlook.com works flawlessly in MailNews. And that means MailNews (and even DreamMail Pro) are more than acceptable in any case, especially for such old OSs like XP and Vista.  Additional support of Microsoft 365 would be great, of course, even if I had nothing to gain from it. 
 

I should have been clearer: none of the XP/Vista OAuth2 email clients are currently acceptable for my needs, though DreamMail Pro comes close.

And you're really saying the same thing: MailNews and DreamMail Pro are acceptable for your needs. But beware; the world is moving in the direction M$ 365 has already arrived at, and MailNews in particular has a glaring weakness in that world: it's based on BOC's Interlink, and BOC has no interest in registering Interlink with any of the big email service providers (Gmail, M$, and Yahoo). So I believe its days are numbered. In fact, AIUI BOC removed OAuth2 support from Interlink itself in protest of the registration requirement. Luckily, @roytam1 retained it in MailNews, so it works for now; and if it does fail someday, DreamMail should still work as long as it retains XP compatibility.

[AstroSkipper]

A small update information! 

DreamMail Pro has been updated again and is now available in version 6.6.6.5. It is still XP compatible. Great to see ongoing development! 
Here is the download link: https://dl.cy-email.com/dm6/Download/dmpro_setup6.6.6.5.exe 

Cheers, AstroSkipper 

[AstroSkipper]

On 3/7/2023 at 1:56 AM, Mathwiz said:

So I believe its days are numbered. In fact, AIUI BOC removed OAuth2 support from Interlink itself in protest of the registration requirement. Luckily, @roytam1 retained it in MailNews, so it works for now; and if it does fail someday, DreamMail should still work as long as it retains XP compatibility.

Our days are numbered, too.  But, joking aside! Speculating about the future is one thing. But we are (probably) not clairvoyants . The actual state is decisive. It's not only about your needs or mine. The fact is, MailNews and DreamMail Pro work with many email services, unfortunately with the exception of Microsoft 365. But in old operating systems, not every new gadget has to and can work. Then the user just has to use a more up-to-date operating system.  There, the choice of email clients is much greater, and presumably, one of them will work with the latest stuff. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[Mark-XP]

@AstroSkipper (and anyone else): Did you eventually try or manage to get the "Alternating row highlighting" (for the inbox area) working?

As described here and shown here:

http://blog.officefirst.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1057948436-3.png ?

Thank you!

Edited March 7, 2023 by Mark-XP

[AstroSkipper]

To force the updated installer of DreamMail Pro 6.6.6.5 to use English instead of Chinese as the installer language, I updated again my small loader that does this when it calls up the setup program. It must be executed in the same directory in which the setup file is located with its original file name dmpro_setup6.6.6.5.exe. Here is the download link of my loader Force_En_Install_DM_Pro_6665.exe: 
https://www.mediafire.com/file/i5bckh1l88a42in/Force_En_Install_DM_Pro_6665.7z/file
Although some virus scanners detect this file as malicious, it is just a false-positive as always. Use my loader to force an English install, only if you trust me, of course! 

Cheers, AstroSkipper

Edited March 8, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

On 3/7/2023 at 5:24 PM, Mark-XP said:

@AstroSkipper (and anyone else): Did you eventually try or manage to get the "Alternating row highlighting" (for the inbox area) working?

As described here and shown here:

http://blog.officefirst.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1057948436-3.png ?

Thank you!

Hello @Mark-XP! Sorry for the late reply! I totally overviewed this.  I managed to get the "Alternating row highlighting" working in MailNews right away without any problems. So what is your problem in detail? For me, it works like a charm.

Edited March 10, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

15 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

On 3/7/2023 at 5:24 PM, Mark-XP said:

@AstroSkipper (and anyone else): Did you eventually try or manage to get the "Alternating row highlighting" (for the inbox area) working?

As described here and shown here:

http://blog.officefirst.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1057948436-3.png ?

Thank you!

Hello @Mark-XP! Sorry for the late reply! I totally overviewed this.  I managed to get the "Alternating row highlighting" working in MailNews right away without any problems. So what is your problem in detail? For me, it works like a charm.

Here is a small screenshot from my MailNews client:



Greetings from Germany,

[Mathwiz]

On 3/7/2023 at 6:22 AM, AstroSkipper said:

But we are (probably) not clairvoyants

I'm definitely not clairvoyant, nor precognitive - but I can spot a trend and see where it's going, and the direction isn't good for XP/Vista email clients.

But I do have some good news. I'll always prefer a well-written email client for email, but Web mail has gotten pretty good. Web mail is noticeably quicker and more responsive on @roytam1's latest UXP browsers than on earlier UXP versions. And for now, the Cr-based browsers work well too. So if Google and Yahoo do shut down our email clients the way Micro$oft has, we can still get by comfortably with Web mail.