    ------------------------------------------------------------
             README for Microsoft Outlook(TM) Express 
                           September l997           
    ------------------------------------------------------------

               (c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1997


This document provides complementary or late-breaking information 
to supplement the documentation.


------------------------
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
------------------------

To view Msimn.txt on screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window.

To print Msimn.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor, then
use the Print command on the File menu.


CONTENTS
========

MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS

KNOWN ISSUES IN THIS RELEASE

TROUBLESHOOTING

TIPS AND TRICKS

SUPPORT FOR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS


MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS
=========================

Outlook Express Mail is an Internet standards based e-mail and news 
reader.
 
To read e-mail with Outlook Express, you must be using a mail system
that uses SMTP and POP3 protocols. At this time, you cannot use 
Microsoft Outlook Express to access your e-mail account with any of 
the following services: MS Mail, cc:Mail, The Microsoft Network (MSN), 
with the exception of the MSN "Metro" (MSN 2.5) beta release, CompuServe, 
America Online (AOL), or Microsoft Exchange Server prior to version 5. 
If you don't know whether your system uses these services, contact your 
administrator or your Internet service provider and ask if they support 
SMTP/POP3 mail clients.


KNOWN ISSUES IN THIS RELEASE
============================

- When receiving a message using a GeoCities mail account, you might 
  be unable to view any of the original message, or you may see only 
  the following information:  Postage Paid by... [graphic].  

- You will not be able to see embedded objects or images sent from
  people using Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, or Windows
  Messaging. File attachments work fine, however.

- If you use HTML in your signature, and you send the message before
  any included images have finished drawing, the text you add to the
  message may be lost.

- Some mail clients send Cyrillic messages with tags indicating that
  they are in a western European character set. As a result, Outlook
  Express uses a western-European font to display the message, which
  then appears garbled. To work around this problem, click the View
  menu, click Language, and then choose a Russian character set, such
  as K0I8. The message should display properly using the Russian font.

- While sending and retrieving messages, closing Outlook Express and
  restarting it will cause Outlook Express to crash.

- If you send a Rich Text (HTML) message which contains embedded
  pictures and the option to "Send pictures with message" is turned
  off, any pictures from a local computer or LAN will not be viewed
  when receiving and reading the message using Netscape's Messenger.
  
  

TROUBLESHOOTING
===============

- If you run into a problem, try the troubleshooter in online Help 
  or on the Microsoft Web site at 
  http://www.microsoft.com/support/tshooters.htm. To start the online 
  Help troubleshooters, carry out the following steps:

  1. In Outlook Express, click the Help menu, and then click Help
     Topics.
  2. Double-click the "Troubleshooting" topic on the Contents tab.

- Check your connection to your Internet service provider.

- If you are unable to send or receive mail, check the following:

  - The TCP/IP protocol is installed on your computer.
  - All cables are properly connected to your computer, modem, or LAN.
  - You have a PPP or SLIP account with your Internet service
    provider.
  - Your Internet service provider or LAN server supports POP3 and 
    SMTP.
  - Your modem communication parameters (baud rate and type of 
    protocol) are set correctly.


TIPS AND TRICKS
===============

- Use the Check Names command, available on the Tools menu or on 
  the New Message toolbar, to look up a person's e-mail address 
  when sending mail. The name will be underlined when the 
  associated address is found.

- You can move the toolbar to the bottom edge of your screen by
  right-clicking it and then choosing Bottom from the Align menu.

- To send a mail message in Plain Text only (no HTML formatting),
  click the Format menu, and then click on Plain Text. To make Plain 
  Text the default setting for new messages, replies, and forwarded 
  messages, click the Tools menu, click Options, click the Send 
  tab, and then select Plain Text under Mail sending format. 

- You can resize the preview pane or the message list by dragging the
  divider between the preview pane and the message list.

- You can change how the preview pane splits, or turn it off entirely,
  by clicking the View menu, clicking Layout and changing the options
  in the dialog box.

- You can set messages to automatically download to the preview pane
  by clicking the Tools menu, clicking Options, clicking the Read
  tab, then selecting the Automatically Show Messages in the Preview
  Pane check box.

- To view the e-mail address of someone who has sent you a message,
  double-click the message to open it, then double-click the author's 
  name in the From field. You can also add this person to your Address
  Book by right-clicking the name, and then clicking Add To Address 
  Book.

- In mail, you can leave a copy of your messages on the server. To set
  this option, click the Tools menu, and then click Accounts. Select
  the mail account you want to modify, and then click Properties. Click 
  the Advanced tab, and then select the Leave A Copy Of Messages On 
  Server check box.

- You can have your signature added to all messages, including those
  that you reply to or forward. To do this, click the Tools menu, and
  then click Stationery. On the Mail tab, select the following check 
  box: Add Signature To The End Of All Outgoing messages.

- It is possible to use HTML files as signatures as well as plain
  text files.

- To reorder columns, you can drag and drop column headings. Columns
  can be resized by dragging the right edge of the column header. 



SUPPORT FOR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS
=====================================

For the latest information about Outlook Express as well as a list of
Frequently Asked Questions, see our Web page at 
http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie40/collab/imn. You may find that your 
questions can be answered here.

A newsgroup is dedicated to the discussion of Microsoft Outlook
Express and provides peer support:

- news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.inetexplorer.ie4.OutlookExpress

This site is the best place to go if you are experiencing a problem,
as someone else who experienced the same problem might already have 
posted the solution. 
