(no subject)

[torkell]

While experimenting with Mozilla Thunderbird as a potential replacement email client (and finding that despite being able to integrate with Windows Contacts if you know which super-secret options to enable, it only supports two email addresses per contact - so it's also useless), I discovered that Hotmail accounts are now accessible over IMAP. This means that I can once again get Outlook Express to speak to my Hotmail account, and so if I want use that program for all my email accounts.

I've also found out that it's possible to use Bluetooth from within XP Mode, by letting the VM control the Bluetooth dongle, though this leads to the somewhat absurd situation of having to plug a second dongle in so that the real Windows 7 install can also use Bluetooth. This means that I can run the Nokia PC Suite software inside the VM, and so get it to sync my phone's contacts with the address book used by Outlook Express. This is part of the reason why I'm trying to find an email client that can actually integrate with Windows Contacts (as opposed to merely importing them) - the other main reason is Windows Contacts actually stores more information than almost every other contact database I've found so far.

The XP Mode approach is looking more and more practical...

Comments

[pleaseremove.livejournal.com]

I can't help but notice you seem to be heading to a less and less sustainable set-up. If you need Windows XP mode you are doing it wrong, try again.

Have you looked at Opera Mail out of interest? http://www.opera.com/computer/mail

[torkell]

I'd rather not end up using XP Mode as that brings all its own problems (including being, as you said, a less sustainable set-up), but unfortunately it also appears to be about the only solution that will actually do everything I want. To recap, my ideal solution is an email client that can handle multiple IMAP accounts, that supports an arbitary number of email addresses per contact, and that can (possibly indirectly) synchronise the contacts with my phone (which being an older Nokia runs Symbian S60). Whatever contact database it uses also has to be able to either store everything that the Windows Address Book could, or synchronise with some other contact database that can do so. All this was possible with Outlook Express on Windows XP.

I hadn't looked at Opera Mail, no. Let's see... nope, it epically fails on the contacts front: it only understands the "Opera Address Book" format with no import/export for other formats (excepting a third-party website that you can upload a CSV file to).

Hmm, I could give Outlook 2003 another try. It ought to be able to store enough details, and it can certainly sync with my phone.

[pleaseremove.livejournal.com]

It has to be said that Outlook sounds like it should be fine for all of this.

It also has to be pointed out (for better or for worse) the reason there are less and less tools for this sort of stuff is more people moving over to web based solutions with no thick end client.