What is the difference between Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express?

Basics of Outlook Express

Outlook Express is a POP3- and IMAP-compatible mail client with a built-in newsreader. It is available with Internet Explorer for Windows (and is the newsreader in Outlook), or as a stand-alone client for Mac OS 8.1 to 9.x (but not Mac OS X). Outlook Express is much simpler to set up and use if you only need to read email and news. You can configure it to retrieve email from your account via POP or configure it as an IMAP client to access your mail on an IMAP mail server.

Note: At Indiana University, UITS has discontinued POP mail in favor of IMAP. For more information on the POP and IMAP protocols, see At IU, why doesn't UITS support POP mail?

At Indiana University, for more information on how to set up Outlook Express to use IMAP, see these Knowledge Base documents:

• At IU, how do I configure Outlook Express for Windows to read my mail on the Cyrus mail system?
• At IU, in Mac OS or Mac OS X, how do I configure Outlook Express 5.0.2 or later, Entourage 2001, or Entourage v.X to read my IU mail?

Basics of Outlook

Outlook handles email as well, but unlike Outlook Express, it is also a personal information manager. You can use it for calendaring, organizing contacts, and managing tasks. When you use it with an Exchange server account, you can use it for group scheduling and sharing your contacts and tasks with others.

Outlook 2003 is part of Microsoft Office 2003; Outlook 2002 is part of Microsoft Office XP; Outlook 2001 is a stand-alone client for Mac OS; Outlook 2000 is part of Office 2000; Outlook 97 is part of Office 97.

Note: Outlook for Windows includes Outlook Express to handle Usenet newsreading.

Both Outlook and Outlook Express can receive email from multiple accounts.

At IU, for information on setting up Outlook 2002 and 2003 to read your Cyrus mail via IMAP, see the Knowledge Base document At IU, in Outlook 2002 or 2003, how do I read my Cyrus or Exchange email using IMAP?

Also see:

• In Microsoft Outlook 2000 and later for Windows, how do I automatically forward all of my mail to another address?
• What is Microsoft Outlook?
• In Microsoft Outlook, why is my Exchange email disappearing from my Inbox at work after I read it at home?
• When using Outlook Express or Entourage as a POP client, how do I leave my mail on the server so I can read it from any computer?
• In Outlook Express or Entourage, how do I move or save multiple messages?
• What is Outlook Express?
• In Mac OS, how do I set up Outlook Express or Entourage to read newsgroups?