Outlook Express is a scaled-down version of Outlook.
email button image by Richard Kane from Fotolia.com
Microsoft Outlook Express and the more robust version of Microsoft Outlook share the same basic functionality: sending and receiving email and viewing newsgroups. But the full version of Outlook has features that make it a more useful business application.
Contacts
Outlook Express keeps track of your email contacts, but Outlook gives you more options for organizing them and allows you to append such information as phone numbers, company name, address and website.
Calendar
To help you track appointments you may have made by email, Outlook provides a comprehensive calendar containing day, week and month views, as well as reminders and alarms. The calendar does not exist in Outlook Express.
Tasks
The full Outlook also lets you create task lists with deadlines and priorities. This is useful for employees who plan their day in advance and want to stay on task. Outlook Express does not offer a task management function.
Synching
The full version of Outlook allows you to sync your email, calendar and tasks with with smartphones that have Outlook installed or use Windows Mobile. This is done automatically when the computer detects the phone via USB or wirelessly. Outlook also allows you to sync your calendar and email with some Web-based email programs such as Google's Gmail. Express does not include these abilities.
Express Functionality
Express does have its advantages, such as a smaller learning curve. If you just need to send, receive and read email and check on your favorite newsgroups, you probably don't need to buy the full version of Outlook. Outlook Express also doesn't use up the hard drive space and doesn't require as much system resources as the full version.
References
Photo Credits
- email button image by Richard Kane from Fotolia.com
