Vista - switching identities

I've just read you cannot switch identities with Windows Mail. What a pain!
We have 2 email accounts set up. With Outlook Express we could switch
identities so we'd have our own inboxes, etc. with a clean look. With all
emails coming into one box, we'll have confusion determining whose is which
email. Anyone know of another option?? I am seriously considering
installing Outlook.

Windows Mail does not have identities like Outlook Express did.
By default, all email from all accounts goes into the same Inbox.
There are four different ways of fixing that:

1. Use separate Windows user logins. That gives total privacy.

2. Use message rules to filter incoming messages into
separate folders.

3. Upgrade to Windows Live Mail which has separate folders for each
account, no rules needed: http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

4. Purchase an add-on called WMIDs:
http://www.oehelp.com/WMIDs

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (Mail)


"Sara Klawitter" <sgklawitter@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23lFXKppUJHA.2100@xxxxxx

I bought the program WMIDs, which is used for switching Identities on Vista Windows Mail, similar to OE. It works, but there are a couple things I think are worth noting. Here is my review.

I have not been able to save "Options...." settings for each mailbox (e.g. "Play sounds when messages arrive"). These settings get lost after switching between identities, even when using the 'Update' button.

It's not clear what the 'Update' button does. Is it for saving 'Options...' settings or Customizations, or 'Accounts....' settings? New message rules?

I have also not been able to save column customizations. For example, I like to see the message size. Each time I set it and go back the column disappears. That's annoying.

Each time you take an action (e.g. Switch or Update), it asks if you're sure you want to do it, and there's no way to turn off the warning, so it makes you think you're doing something wrong (which perhaps you are, but what?).

There is no help or support page for the software beyond the basics. (Or there is but I can't find it -- same thing.)

Nevertheless, for me it's useful software (mostly for keeping separate 'Deleted Items' folders for different accounts). But if your concern is just having the proper 'return/reply-to/from' address in your emails, then you don't need it. Windows Mail handles this automatically, as far as I can tell.

My main recommendations to the developer (though the software hasn't been updated in a while) would be:

Remove any options or functionality that is potentially buggy (e.g. the switch-shutdown).

Make Update automatic (e.g. part of switch).

Provide specific instructions for how to change settings - columns, Options, Accounts, Rules, and a working help file.

I decided not to use WMIDs due to the glitches described above. Instead, I am using Windows Mail for one set of accounts, and Windows Live Mail for another set. The programs are pretty similar in terms of interface and functionality. But WLM does a better job of segregating accounts. For example, it has separate 'Deleted Items' folders for each account, whereas WM combines the deleted items for all accounts into the same folder. WLM also has a 'Quick View' that you can see all the new messages from all accounts in one box. In fact the functionality works well for me.

I don't miss OE Identies any more.