Microsoft Mail
Encyclopedia
Microsoft Mail was the name given to several early Microsoft
e-mail products.
and Windows NT 4.0
. The last version was 3.5 as it was replaced by Microsoft Exchange Server
(which starts with version 4.0).
The client software was also named Microsoft Mail and was included in some older versions of Microsoft Office
such as version 4.x. The original "Inbox" (Exchange client
or Windows Messaging
) of Windows 95 also had the capability to connect to an MS Mail server. Later, they were replaced with the much more powerful Microsoft Exchange
and later Outlook
(Windows) and Entourage
(Mac).
Microsoft Mail was a shared-file mail system; the "postoffice" was a database of files. Clients used mapped network drives and file sharing to write mail to the postoffice. Clients were in effect Message Transfer Agents (MTAs) for their own postoffices. Mail that needed to travel between postoffices required an external MTA. This MTA was called External.exe and ran on MS-DOS or Windows NT. A multitasking MTA was added with Microsoft Mail for PC Networks 3.5. This ran in the OS/2 subsystem of Windows NT and Windows 2000.
Connections to other email systems were made possible by gateways to "foreign mail systems". There were gateways to PROFS and SNADS
(Office Vision), SMTP, X.400
, Novell
's Message Handling System (MHS), MCI Mail
and others were created by Microsoft.
Many companies running these gateways quickly replaced them with Microsoft Exchange Server connectors. In particular an early part of a migration from MSMail to Exchange included replacing the Microsoft Mail for PC Networks Gateway to SMTP to the Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector, later renamed to the Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Service.
A single postoffice was locked to a limit of 500 mailboxes. This meant a large enterprise would require many postoffices and many MTAs to connect these postoffices. Also, the Microsoft Mail Client for Windows used an MMF file to store messages, they were downloaded off the postoffice. Because of the file lock and the way they were accessed a user could only login to their mail from a single PC at a time. This made using MSMail across multiple machines problematic.
For enterprises a challenge of running a Microsoft Mail for PC Networks environment was the method of synchronizing directories (Global Address Books). Every postoffice had a separate Global Address List and these were synchronized using MSMail 3.X directory synchronization protocol and software called dispatch.exe.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
e-mail products.
Mac Networks
The first Microsoft Mail product was introduced in 1988 for AppleTalk Networks. It was based on InterMail, a product that Microsoft purchased and updated. An MS-DOS client was added for PCs on AppleTalk networks. It was later sold off to become Quarterdeck Mail, then Star Nine Mail, and has long since been discontinued.PC Networks
The second Microsoft Mail product was introduced in 1991 for PC Networks. It was based on Network Courier, a product that Microsoft purchased and updated. There were clients for MS-DOS and Windows, including Windows for Workgroups Mail. A stripped-down version of the PC-based server, Microsoft Mail for PC Networks, was included in Windows 95Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
and Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0
Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...
. The last version was 3.5 as it was replaced by Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
(which starts with version 4.0).
The client software was also named Microsoft Mail and was included in some older versions of Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
such as version 4.x. The original "Inbox" (Exchange client
Microsoft Exchange Client
Microsoft Exchange Client was a multi-purpose messaging product useful for managing e-mail. It was the native and bundled client for Microsoft Exchange Server up to version 5.0, later superseded by Microsoft Outlook....
or Windows Messaging
Windows Messaging
Windows Messaging, initially called Microsoft Exchange, is an e-mail client that was included with Windows 95 , 98 and Windows NT 4.0.In Windows 98, it is not installed by default, but available as a separate program in the setup CD....
) of Windows 95 also had the capability to connect to an MS Mail server. Later, they were replaced with the much more powerful Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...
and later Outlook
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
(Windows) and Entourage
Microsoft Entourage
Microsoft Entourage was an e-mail client and personal information manager developed by Microsoft for Mac OS 8.5 and higher. Microsoft first released Entourage in October 2000 as part of the Microsoft Office 2001 office suite; Office 98, the previous version of Microsoft Office for Mac OS included...
(Mac).
Microsoft Mail was a shared-file mail system; the "postoffice" was a database of files. Clients used mapped network drives and file sharing to write mail to the postoffice. Clients were in effect Message Transfer Agents (MTAs) for their own postoffices. Mail that needed to travel between postoffices required an external MTA. This MTA was called External.exe and ran on MS-DOS or Windows NT. A multitasking MTA was added with Microsoft Mail for PC Networks 3.5. This ran in the OS/2 subsystem of Windows NT and Windows 2000.
Connections to other email systems were made possible by gateways to "foreign mail systems". There were gateways to PROFS and SNADS
Snads
Acronym of Systems Network Architecture Distribution Services SNADS is a feature available on some computing systems using SNA data links to allow messages and objects to be sent from system to system using the APPC protocol. It is a very robust service: once an object has been accepted by SNADS...
(Office Vision), SMTP, X.400
X.400
X.400 is a suite of ITU-T Recommendations that define standards for Data Communication Networks for Message Handling Systems — more commonly known as "email"....
, Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
's Message Handling System (MHS), MCI Mail
MCI Mail
MCI Mail was a commercial email service that was operated by MCI Communications Corp. during the period 1983 - 2003. The service is widely credited with being the first commercial email service in the United States.-History:...
and others were created by Microsoft.
Many companies running these gateways quickly replaced them with Microsoft Exchange Server connectors. In particular an early part of a migration from MSMail to Exchange included replacing the Microsoft Mail for PC Networks Gateway to SMTP to the Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector, later renamed to the Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Service.
A single postoffice was locked to a limit of 500 mailboxes. This meant a large enterprise would require many postoffices and many MTAs to connect these postoffices. Also, the Microsoft Mail Client for Windows used an MMF file to store messages, they were downloaded off the postoffice. Because of the file lock and the way they were accessed a user could only login to their mail from a single PC at a time. This made using MSMail across multiple machines problematic.
For enterprises a challenge of running a Microsoft Mail for PC Networks environment was the method of synchronizing directories (Global Address Books). Every postoffice had a separate Global Address List and these were synchronized using MSMail 3.X directory synchronization protocol and software called dispatch.exe.