Its simple, powerful and private – the new Beta of Windows Live Mail desktop from Microsoft is sure to entice away many Thunderbird users.
At first glance, it looks like a repainted version of Outlook Express. But once u look around, u’ll sure like it. The familiarity of Outlook combined with a snazzy look could make Thunderbird and even Outlook go running for cover.
Whats new? Well, it boasts of easier Picture integration while sending attachments, an updated RSS feeds manager and Newsgroup manager.
But the piece de resistance would be the privacy part. Unlike most mail clients, in WLMdb, the application itself is password protected and you need to sign-in to even enter the Inbox. For privacy freaks like me, this is means added protection. New color schemes a la WMP11 or Nero adds to better visual appeal.
All’s well, but where’s the catch? Well, MS goes beyond even GMail in this. You got to put up with graphical ad banners (which I suspect is content-related) much like the DAP free version. In other words, the Outlook Express that we used to have for free is not free any more.
Try it out. You need a Hotmail/MSN passport (as a US user) to download and use it. Get it here.
