ItsGeekToMe.co

Q: I’ve used Hotmail for over 10 years and have always enjoyed the fact that it was user friendly. I also have accounts with Cox and Gmail which I don’t like as well because I feel they lack some of the items that I use a lot.  However, with the new Outlook Express I cannot say this. OE really screwed up a good thing and I hate it. I’m always looking for the symbols instead of the easy to use words. I cannot copy and paste onto an email message, cannot open most attachments, especially U-tube. The screen is black. The contact list is not divided into categories but on one long list which is located on the side, which is stupid. Plus I now have all these ads that make the message area smaller. Who wants to look at ads? I would like to fire these genius’s who think that they’re doing us a favor by this drastic change. I would like to keep my live.com account so I don’t have to change email addresses again–I just did this when changing from Cox residential to Cox business email. Is there a solution to my problem(s) and if not, can you recommend a good, easy to use email website?

– Dee M.
Niceville, Florida

 A: It sounds like you’re having one big ol’ “Thanks, Bill!” moment with your e-mail.  I doubt it will be a great deal of comfort to you in your distress, Dee, but I feel your pain.  All users of free web services have had to learn to deal with “ad creep”.  I’ll address that part of your letter in a moment, but let’s handle the technical issues first.

I’m a little confused as to exactly what software you’re running, as you said in your background information that you’re running Win7, but you also said you’re using Outlook Express, which is not available under Win7, so I’m going to guess that you mean OE’s replacement, Windows Live Mail.  I’m also going to guess that you mean you’re trying to copy and paste pictures or other embedded content, since cut/copy/paste is a pretty basic function that operates virtually the same in almost every Windows-based application.  In older apps, they were on an “Edit” menu.  Newer apps have them on a tool ribbon, usually on the tab labeled “Home”.  They are often found on a context menu, available by clicking the right mouse button within an application.  There are also the Geekier keyboard shortcuts that are almost universally supported by apps that can copy and paste, specifically Ctrl+X or Shift+Delete for cut, Ctrl+C for copy, and Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert for paste.  If you’ve tried all these, and still can’t cut/copy/paste, then that functionality is probably not supported by the application.

Some of what you mentioned (symbols on buttons instead of text, the appearance of the Contact List, etc.) are simply the way the software author chose to implement it, and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it other than simply using the software until you get used to it.  If that sounds daunting, remember at some point in the past, drop-down menus were a new concept, and words like Cut, Open, and Insert had no meaning to you in the context of a software application; but through repeated use of the software, you obviously learned what they meant.  The same will happen with the symbols over time, however, there’s probably some galactic universal constant that states that just about the time you learn the new system, it will change again.

Regarding attachments, YouTube files generally are not attachments, they are embedded links, and if you can’t open them, it’s either because a security setting in your system is preventing it, or they are poorly formatted in the e-mail (for example, sometimes links wrap onto another like of text, causing the address to get split).  If you have an error message to send me, I’ll see what I can do.

Finally, I want to address the ads.  Back in the early days of the Worldwide Web, we used to enjoy many free services that arrived free of ads, pop-ups, malware, and other “things that make you go eew”.  Unfortunately, as the web matured, many of these free services were shuttered because the sheer cost of keeping them open got to be too much to bear by the person paying the bills.  You probably have no idea of the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that goes into keeping even the simplest of websites online, much less services like webmail that can have countless millions of users.  One answer is a subscription-based model, but many people don’t like to pay fees, especially when “free” versions live right next door.  The best solution that has been arrived at to-date is sponsor support through advertising.  These ads generate the revenue stream that pays for these “free” services.  One way around ads on an e-mail service is to not use the webmail interface.  There are still a couple of good free e-mail clients out there, such as Mozilla Thunderbird.  If you prefer to use webmail, that’s okay, but someone has to pay for the service, so you can choose either to pay money, or accept ads.  To give you some options to think about, visit tinyurl.com/27nq6k which will take you to a Wikipedia page comparing a number of webmail providers, including their cost and features.