I am presently running a Win7 Laptop with (free) Open Office for my writing and spreadsheets plus (free) eM Client as my email App.

I need a better email App as in my spare time I am Reunion Secretary to an ex-service old boys network and need to securely hold contact details and send group emails with accurate records kept of who to and when etc. I am stuck with Win 7 as I have found to my cost that Win 10 is not an option for my particular Lenovo laptop. I use xx@gmail.com and xx@yahoo.co.uk emails.

Do I buy a MS Office 2007 or 2010 Package which is likely to include Outlook (Product Key and downloads can be quite cheap, rather than full disc packages) or get a stand-alone Outlook program? (Today I saw one on free download - is there a catch?)

Above all, I want to keep it simple!

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

Don't count on Outlook to be included in an MS Office package.... check! It gotta D3 but surfing here for wifey's new motor ...

why not try Thunderbird from Mozilla

Agreed re Thunderbird. I have Outlook on my Win 10 machines, but I use Thunderbird!

Have just taken a look at Thunderbird using my iPad. Looks like it may do what I need. I see it requires Firefox for add ons etc to work - I use Chrome at present, will that limit it? Is it well featured in basic form, or do I need to switch browsers?

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

As far as I'm aware Thunderbird doesn't require Firefox for add-ons, although I have FF installed anyway. You can install FF alongside Chrome if required (I have), but I don't think that will be necessary. You certainly won't need to switch browsers.

Thanks - I will take a look over the weekend. I hate changing things on the 'puter, something always seems to go wrong!

I previously switched from Win 7 to Win 10 - was fine for about 6 months until an auto update really screwed things. Could not work out what was wrong. Thought I had lost everything. Went the whole hog and replaced HDD with SSD. Reinstalled a new Win 10 and it was unstable, crashed etc. Eventually found on Lenovo web site that my model "had not been tested for Win 10" 🙄. Reverted to Win 7, perfect!

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

You have the option of Office 365 as a subscription service, £5.99 a month is the cheapest for a single PC and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook.

Yes, I have seen that. Don't really want to have running costs though. There is no money in being a Reunion Sec! 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

Unless you know someone who knows the codes for various flavours of Outlook use Thunderbird which you can tailor to your needs. If you use IMAP instead of POP the new client will pick up all of your old emails too. I refuse to pay a subscription for Office 365 which is so over specified now, for most people Outlook Express and Office 2000 is more than adequate.

I agree that Win 10 is a bit of a with updates though, I have a couple of PCs that frequently need drivers reinstalled due to Microsoft in their wisdom overwriting them. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
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Thank you for that Dorset. I have been spending the last 10 minutes or so looking up IMAP 😳 On Wiki. I will look at that with Thunderbird. I guess, though, that as both my email addresses are effectively cloud based, a simple Pop3 would suffice? Or do I read this wrong?

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

No that should be fine, I tend to use IMAP these days so that I can access my email account from my phone, tablet or PC and if you send or delete something on one then the others synchronise with it. You can almost achieve the same thing with POP if you set it up correctly. If you are only using one device then I would set it up as POP and tick the "leave a copy on the server" box so that you end up with both cloud and client copies. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Worried I have opened a can of worms here! I already share the email addresses across Lenovo, iPad & iPhone! Not had any problems so far. In fact, on the Lenovo, there is eM Client, on which I can only pick up gmail, plus both accessed on the web through the Chrome browser!

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

Ask any of the members in your group if they have an office 365 subscription. You can register up to 5 devices on the subscription . Not many people do that do, so if it was a buddy they might help. Then you will get the full blown Office suite and Outlook. You could even offer to pay them £16 a year 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

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2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

I like that, Martyn. However, we are all retired, many in their 80's, often having email only by proxy. In addition we stretch from the Cayman Islands, throughout Europe & UK, to Canada, so just too much like hard work! There are no subs or funds, I just devote some spare time. I am happy to buy some reasonably priced software, but Office 365 is really aimed for SME use & those who want all the bells & whistles. We don't. I maintain one database on a spreadsheet & send newsletters etc via email or snail mail to some.

As said, I presently use Open Office. I save all docs & sheets in MS format. 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)