Is Outlook now totally redundant? - And if so, what should I be doing about it?

Firefox1701 · #1 10-01-2024, 09:12 AM

Hi,

I’m really hoping someone will be able to help me, as I seem to have drawn a complete blank with this one. To be honest, given that there don’t seem to be many ( if any ...? ) other questions on this forum along the same lines, I’m even more concerned that I’m missing something glaringly obvious.

By way of a bit of background info, in terms of computer know-how, I’m not a complete newbie, and I do have some knowledge of how various software works. However, e-mail management has always been a bit of a grey area for me, and it’s often ended up being the case that any particular issue has been resolved as much by luck as judgment. F.Y.I., I’m using Windows 7 Ultimate and Outlook 2010. I very very rarely use my mobile phone for anything and don’t possess a tablet, laptop etc.; I’ve only ever used e-mails on my desktop computer, and there’s no expectation of that changing.

As I presume everyone is aware by now, as of September 26 ( in my case ), it was no longer possible to use Outlook to access either Hotmail or MSN accounts. As far as I can gather from Google, that would appear to be an absolute, which is to say there are no work-arounds or changes of settings which will solve the problem either in the short or long term. I have a number of different e-mail accounts each of which is used for a different purpose, although I should add that I am a private user rather than a business.

Having been using Outlook for around 20 years or so ( back as far as when it was still Outlook Express ), I am loath to change my e-mail programme ( ‘programme’? / ‘app’? / ‘client’? ( a word I’ve seen used, although in this context I’ve no idea what it means )). It appears, however, that on this occasion there is no choice. From what I’ve been able to glean via Google, the nearest and best alternative ( which doesn’t require payment ) is Outlook For Windows. In passing, that seems like a strange name; I’m running Windows and have been using Outlook for upwards of 20 years, hence I’d be inclined to assume that what I’ve been using is, by definition, Outlook for Windows.

Working on the assumption that it’s not as simple as that ( because when is anything ever as simple as that? ), although I had reservations, I downloaded the Outlook for Windows installer. I presume all one has to do in order to activate it is to double-click on it, which I did. I got the ‘do you want to run this file’ pop-up, and clicked on ‘run’ ... and that was the end of that. I’ve tried this three times, including having re-downloaded the installer, and the result has been the same every time: after I click on ‘run’, nothing happens. No error message, just nothing.

My concerns are firstly that I would want my e-mails to be stored on my own computer rather than in ‘the cloud’ or on a server somewhere. I would want the e-mails that I’ve kept over the course of the last couple of decades, along with the folders into which I’ve divided them, to be migrated to the new programme. I would want the many many filters that I’ve applied over the afore-mentioned last couple of decades to be migrated to the new programme also. I would want to be able to access and download e-mails from any of my accounts without having to log out and log back in again. Bearing in mind that I’ve had all of these things with Outlook, on the assumption that any major changes such as this one would be an improvement on what’s gone before, none of these expectations seem to me to be outrageous. Having said this, as it is that my downloaded Outlook for Windows won’t run, I don’t yet even know whether it will do those things, never mind whether or not it’s the best out of what seem to be many alternatives.

As I say, I’m not a complete and utter newbie to computer technology in general, but for the purposes of answering this question, please assume I’m a six-year-old. I promise I won’t be offended. Based on the info I’ve provided, can anybody tell me whether in fact ( a ) I’m right that Outlook for Windows is the best option for me; ( b ) if not, what are the other alternatives; ( c ) whether Outlook for Windows does in fact do all the stuff above, and lastly ( d ) if so, any thoughts about how I get the damn thing to work?!

My apologies for the length of this query - I would have asked elsewhere if I knew where else I could get a straight answer - but any help will be much appreciated.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Tell Word to TOTALLY STOP making spelling corrections	almagary	Word	5	07-31-2022 05:52 PM
many redundant toc bookmarks in doc	jmaechtlen	Word	3	11-17-2021 03:05 PM
Outlook VBA forward mail code - worked in Outlook 2007, but won't work in Outlook 2010	perola.rike	Outlook	1	06-02-2016 07:45 PM
Deleting rows with partially redundant data	Noah14	Excel Programming	1	09-19-2014 11:46 PM
Outlook 2010 & Redundant Files Cleanup	goombarok	Outlook	0	03-09-2012 08:04 AM