Windows Messaging
Encyclopedia
Windows Messaging, initially called Microsoft Exchange
, is an e-mail client
that was included with Windows 95
(beginning with OSR2), 98
and Windows NT 4.0
.
In Windows 98, it is not installed by default, but available as a separate program in the setup CD.
Fax (AWF), is the fax component to provide Send-and-Receive Fax capability; sent and received faxes were stored in the same .pst
file as other messages, first attempt of unified messaging
by Microsoft; also the ability to act as fax server
, which is not available in later versions of Windows until Windows Vista
Microsoft Exchange Client
Microsoft Exchange Client was a multi-purpose messaging product useful for managing e-mail. It was the native and bundled client for Microsoft Exchange Server up to version 5.0, later superseded by Microsoft Outlook....
, is an e-mail client
E-mail client
An email client, email reader, or more formally mail user agent , is a computer program used to manage a user's email.The term can refer to any system capable of accessing the user's email mailbox, regardless of it being a mail user agent, a relaying server, or a human typing on a terminal...
that was included with Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
(beginning with OSR2), 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
and Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...
.
In Windows 98, it is not installed by default, but available as a separate program in the setup CD.
History
Microsoft Exchange gained wider usage with the release of Windows 95, as this was the only e-mail client that came bundled with it. Exchange was included throughout later releases of Windows up until the initial release of Windows 98, which by then also included Outlook Express 4.0.- In 1996, Microsoft Exchange was renamed Windows Messaging, because of Microsoft's release of another ExchangeMicrosoft Exchange ServerMicrosoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
product, which was meant for servers. - Windows Messaging had two branches of successors:
- In software bundled with Windows itself, these were Internet Mail and News in Windows 95 (and bundled with Internet Explorer 3Internet Explorer 3Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 is a graphical web browser released on August 13, 1996 by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and on January 8, 1997 for Apple Mac OS . It began serious competition against Netscape Navigator in the first Browser war...
), which was succeeded by Outlook Express 4.0 in Windows 98 (bundled with Internet Explorer 4.0Internet Explorer 4Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 is a graphical web browser released in September 1997 by Microsoft, primarily for Microsoft Windows, but also with versions available for Apple Mac OS, Solaris, and HP-UX and marketed as "The Web the Way You Want It".It was one of the main participants of the first...
in Windows 95) and throughout newer Windows systems. These did not use the .pst file type. - Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
became the professional-grade and more direct successor of MS Exchange Client, which still uses the .pst file type.
- In software bundled with Windows itself, these were Internet Mail and News in Windows 95 (and bundled with Internet Explorer 3
Microsoft Fax
Microsoft Fax, also called Microsoft at WorkMicrosoft at Work
Microsoft at Work was a short-lived effort promoted by Microsoft to tie together common business machinery, like fax machines and photocopiers, with a common communications protocol allowing control and status information to be shared with computers running Microsoft Windows. Similar efforts for...
Fax (AWF), is the fax component to provide Send-and-Receive Fax capability; sent and received faxes were stored in the same .pst
.pst
In computing, a Personal Storage Table is an open proprietary file format used to store copies of messages, calendar events, and other items within Microsoft software such as Microsoft Exchange Client, Windows Messaging, and Microsoft Outlook...
file as other messages, first attempt of unified messaging
Unified messaging
Unified Messaging is the integration of different electronic messaging and communications media technologies into a single interface, accessible from a variety of different devices....
by Microsoft; also the ability to act as fax server
Fax server
A fax server is a system installed in a local area network server that allows computer users whose computers are attached to the LAN to send and receive fax messages...
, which is not available in later versions of Windows until Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
Criticisms
- Because Microsoft Outlook used the same basic Windows Messaging profile, account and e-mail settings (MAPI), MS Exchange users not familiar with it could have been led into thinking that Outlook created a double profile and that it made copies of all their mail while they were just checking to see what the new MS Outlook (ver. 97) looked like. This way some MS Exchange users could have unknowingly deleted all their e-mail that they perceived to be 'double', as MS Outlook did not have any front-end feature to notify users that it was actually using the same MS Exchange or Windows Messaging account.
- The original version lacks support of Internet mail (SMTP and POP3 support). They are only available with the other-purchased Microsoft Plus!Microsoft Plus!Microsoft Plus! was a commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications...
pack. - No support for International characters. Some e-mail that was sent with a non-ASCII or non-7/8-bit character set, was shown in the form of text attachments, which had to be saved and then read in a web browser, with the browser's text encoding set for a specified code page.
- HTML e-mail was shown in such a way that the message contained an *.ATT or *.htm attachment, which had to be saved and then viewed in a browser, as MS Exchange did not have support for HTML-formatted messages.
- In a similar fashion, e-mail that did not use traditional message formatting, was shown the same way: actual message content was delivered in the form of text attachments with the *.ATT extension, which could be opened through Notepad. These files were in turn saved in the active Temp directory and some sensitive e-mail could therefore have been made available for other users to see.
See also
- .pst.pstIn computing, a Personal Storage Table is an open proprietary file format used to store copies of messages, calendar events, and other items within Microsoft software such as Microsoft Exchange Client, Windows Messaging, and Microsoft Outlook...
- Microsoft Internet Mail and NewsMicrosoft Internet Mail and NewsMicrosoft Internet Mail and News is a freeware e-mail and news client and ancestor of Outlook Express. The version 1.0 was released in 1996 following the Internet Explorer 3.0 release....
- Outlook ExpressOutlook ExpressOutlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9...
- Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
- Windows 95Windows 95Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
and Windows 98Windows 98Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...