E-mail for Windows XP/Vista & Win 7

[Geek-9pm]

As you know MS is putting OE to pasture.
Here is a nice list of good Emil clients you might want to try.

Windows 7 has you looking for an email program — possibly the best free email program for Windows, of course? It does not exist. There are many free email programs, though, and at least one perfect for you.
...Identifying your perfect free email program will be a lot of fun!
Top 11 Free Email Programs for Windows

Link goes to About.com site.

[soybean]

Yep, long-time OE users are going to be faced with a decision that might be perplexing for some of them.  They have a lot of clients from which to choose.  I suspect Windows Live Mail may have a bit of the upper hand just because it's from Microsoft but we'll see.

Of the 11 clients covered in the article, I'm familiar with three but mainly with Windows Live Mail which I installed soon after getting Windows 7.  The other two are Mozilla Thunderbird and Opera's email client.  I could live with any of them but they're different.  So, some users may want to try more than one to compare them.

[Geek-9pm]

soybean. Thanks for contributing to the thread.
MS Live mail is both a web mail and a client.

Here are two missing from the the list:
http://eudora.com/
Eudora is an Open Source program. Recently upgraded. It has a great history.
http://pmail.com/
Pegasus Mai claims to be the Internets' longest-serving PC email out there.

[soybean]

MS Live mail is both a web mail and a client.

Eh, I think you're off track there.  "Windows Live Mail" is an email client.  Yes, you can have a Hotmail account or Windows Live Hotmail account but, again "Windows Live Mail" is an email client. 

[Geek-9pm]

Eh, I think you're off track there.  "Windows Live Mail" is an email client.  Yes, you can have a Hotmail account or Windows Live Hotmail account but, again "Windows Live Mail" is an email client.

Off Tack? But not "Off His Trolley."

Email client
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An email client, email reader, or more formally mail user agent (MUA), is a computer program used to manage a user's email.
...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_client

Microsoft's choice of terms leads to such confusion. Likely an effort to build customer preference and loyalty.

[BC_Programmer]

Microsoft's choice of terms leads to such confusion.

Only to those whose idea of research is to read the title of articles, books, and magazines.

[Geek-9pm]

Only to those whose idea of research is to read the title of articles, books, and magazines.

What other way is research done?

[Quantos]

What other way is research done?

Research quite often involves 'doing', not just reading.

[BC_Programmer]

What other way is research done?

reading the content helps, rather than just the title.