Confusions with Live Mail & Vista/ Outlook,Hotmail,OE,Gmail,IMAP

I am new to Vista, have used Hotmail and Gmail for years, and OE & Outlook in conjunction. I have read several posts where users are discussing the transition from WM to WLM, but in my case my new Vista laptop came preloaded with WM, however upon opening to set up it notified me that WM is no longer supported or available for Vista and directed me to the WLM download site, WM is obviously getting phased out. I recently installed WML, and I believe I understand the benefits, features and differences between the mail clients I am familiar with ( I have a Hotmail account for personal and Gmail -IMAP for business )

As I recall, OE is running in the background and notifies in real time of new messages upon user login, and Outlook is more robust but needs to be opened as a program unless pinned to startup.......

It seems that WLM and Outlook ( not OE ) are essentially the same. What are the key differences and or benefits of either?

My main question is really basic and ignorant, but I can't figure it out or find info anywhere!

Does WLM "load" at startup without opening from the quickstart or desktop icon? It appears no, which is fine as long as the automatic inbox check and notification works in the background. I have my settings as: WLM is default email program; autocheck inbox every 2 min. & new mail sound notification.

Is this active upon logging into my user account upon startup? Or do I have to manually open WLM and minimize it to automatically notify me of new messages?

I keep my Gmail ( IMAP ) account separate for strictly business email, I want to receive separate notifications for the two accounts which is why I didn't add Gmail to WLM.

For my Gmail account, I have a widget on my desktop which logs me into Gmail on startup- user login but does not actually open Gmail or any webpage. It notifies me with a sound and the widget which is a large icon changes color and indicates the number of new messages in real time for each and every new messages, and if I choose to click the icon it opens the webpage directly to my Gmail inbox.

This is the greatest, easiest and most seamless method. I am logged on automatically upon startup when logging into my user account ( administrator ) and don't have to open anything to receive new email notifications. Clicking the icon takes me directly to my Inbox without having to open the webpage, login etc.

I am hoping there is a similar method for WLM, If nothing else at least have a notification of new emails upon startup/ user log in as well as real time ( or every 2 min updated) new mail notifications without having WLM actually open.

Is this possible, is it already working this way and I don't know it, and is there any kind of widget or icon to indicate the status?

WLM has to be open (or at least minimized) in order for it to
receive messages. You can put a copy of its shortcut in the Startup
folder if you want it to start when Windows starts.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (Mail)


"Stephb1" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message news:1711a9326113f84f7993c0a74a6d962b@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

Both the Vista Windows Mail (WM) and Windows Live Mail (WLM) are based
on Outlook Express. The 3 programs are very similar in features and
interface, although there are some significant differences.

The Office Outlook program is very different, and has almost nothing in
common with the above programs.

I'm not sure what you mean by "As I recall, OE is running in the
background and notifies in real time of new messages upon user login".
Are you perhaps referring to this feature of Windows XP?
Overview of the Mail Notification Display on the Windows XP Welcome
Screen
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=304148

Like OE, WLM must be open (can be minimized) in order to check for new
messages. If a program isn't running, it can't do anything. Neither
program automatically loads at start unless you set it to do so, such as
putting it in the start up group.

But there are a number of 3rd party mail checker programs that will
notify you if there are new messages without loading your mail program,
just as you are doing with the Gmail widget.

--

Mike - http://pages.prodigy.net/michael_santovec/techhelp.htm



"Stephb1" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:1711a9326113f84f7993c0a74a6d962b@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

Thanks everyone!

I am, I always thought it was an OE feature!

Do you have any suggestions? I've looked on the Live gallery, I figured those would be the most stable, but really didn't see many good options. I did download maildude but it didn't work.

Thanks!

I haven't tried any myself. You'll need to get one specific to the type
of mail server you are using. The POP3 mail checkers are the most
common.

--

Mike - http://pages.prodigy.net/michael_santovec/techhelp.htm



"Stephb1" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:7453881f15c991cf9316a7307c57d4d7@xxxxxx-gateway.com...