Windows 10 new PC - what is included - mail and office?

[Clariman]

I have bought a Lenovo 310s which comes with Windows 10. I am trying to work out what mail client is included. I see on t'internet that Windows 10 comes with "Mail". Is that any good? I also have Outlook 2016 installed but I can't tell (before configuring it) whether that is part of the Office365 trial or not. What do you reckon - Outlook included or not?

On the subject of Office, does the 2007 incarnation of office apps work OK on Windows 10 or should I but a newer version or subscribe to Office365. Using my existing paid for Office 2007 is my preferred choice.

Antivirus - is Windows Defender in Windows 10 good enough? I used Security Essentials on Windows 7. Laptop comes with a trial of McAfee but I'd prefer to go down the free route.

PCs should not be this difficult. The trouble is, they try to coerce you into subscribing to the trial software which is a pretty shabby sales tactic to be honest.

Clariman

[chas49]

I would expect the Outlook 2016 to be part of the Office 365 trial.

Your Office 2007 will still work under Win 10 so if you're happy with that version and you've got the discs and key, I would go for that. I don't like the subscription model for Office apps either but I suspect we'll all end up paying one day. (I'm using Office 2010 until it stops getting security updates....)

Office 2007 ends extended support in October 2017 - so you have security updates for it till then - after that you're increasingly at risk - but many would say it's not too much of an issue!

IMHO the buit-in Windows Defender AV is perfectly good - it effectively now includes the old Security Essentials. No need for things like McAfeee. They need uninstalling to get rid of nags etc....

[Infrasonic]

I have bought a Lenovo 310s which comes with Windows 10. I am trying to work out what mail client is included. I see on t'internet that Windows 10 comes with "Mail". Is that any good?
Clariman

Mail + Calendar is very basic and a bit buggy I have found, but it is free of course and it does get regularly updated.
Integrates fine with Outlook.com webmail and calendar, which is my main requirement of it as my primary aggregator.

[Slarti]

As has been said, Office 2007 will work, which will give you Outlook.

Or you could install Thunderbird, which is free.

I find that Google calender is enough for my needs.

[Breelander]

Antivirus - is Windows Defender in Windows 10 good enough? I used Security Essentials on Windows 7. Laptop comes with a trial of McAfee but I'd prefer to go down the free route.

Defender is a direct development of Microsoft Security Essentials. It uses the same AV definitions as MSE. It does everything MSE did for you (and me) in Windows 7 - and then some more. In addition, Defender now includes a 'Block at First Sight' feature that can protect against threats not yet in the AV definitions.

Block at First Sight is a feature of Windows Defender cloud protection starting with Windows 10 Anniversary Update (version 1607) that provides a way to detect and block new malware within seconds.

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/7032 ... -10-a.html

I used MSE under Windows 7 and am now happy to use Defender on my Windows 10 PCs. The other protection I have in place is a HOSTS table from here...

You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers.

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

In addition to blocking known 'malicious' IP addresses, it also stops me seeing any adverts.

[dspp]

Clariman,

We run Win10 machines at work with O365 and I look after them all as a spare time job.

Earlier this week I had to set up a colleague's Win10 personal laptop so he could receive email. He was using the 'Mail' program on his personal laptop. The Mail program is the rebadged version of the old Outlook Express and it is fine. One thing to watch out for is that if it doesn't recognise your settings then there is n oobvious 'advanced' settings button. What you have to do is to go through the autodetect loop three times, and if it fails on the third time then it will automatically reveal the advanced settings.

Re antivirus on Win10 we have found that the built-in Defender is adequate. No need to sign up for any of those pesky other added value (!) services that then make life hell.

Re using O7 vs O365 I cannot comment. We took the decision to move all to O365 and have not regretted it but I can understand the pros & cons.

Regards, dspp

[Breelander]

Re using O7 vs O365 I cannot comment.

This may help...

A look at running older versions of Microsoft Office on Windows 10

Created by Andre Da Costa June 7, 2015
MVP Insider Community Moderator , Wiki Author

...Recently I came across an article by noted Windows extraordinaire Paul Thurrott discussing a recent Twitter tease from Gabe Aul (Engineering General Manager for Data and Fundamentals team in Microsoft's Operating Systems Group) showing a vintage version of the suite; Office for Windows 95 running on Windows 10. I thought this was interesting to know that 20 year old software runs just fine on the latest version of Windows. Talk about bringing your investments forward!

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 36cdb1936c

[Infrasonic]

http://www.howtogeek.com/232277/how-to- ... indows-10/

Windows 10 comes with a built-in Mail app, from which you can access all your different email accounts (including Outlook.com, Gmail, Yahoo!, and others) in one single, centralized interface.With it, there’s no need to go to different websites or apps for your email.
Here’s how to set it up...

[Clariman]

I think the Office 365 Home is not a bad deal, but I've installed my Office Home 2007 and that's working fine on Windows 10. Even better, MS Money 2005 is running fine, with the fix that I needed for Windows 7, so that is really great.

So now I think I'll have a go at the new Mail/Calendar to see what that is like. If rubbish. I'll install my old Outlook 2010.

I have to say that I really resent having to do all this stuff JUST because my new PC comes with Windows 10. Luckily I haven't had to spend any more money on software yet.

[uspaul666]

I really didn't like the new office subscription model but I tried it and I loved it. You can pick up Office 365 home 5 user licence for under £50 for a year on amazon for example. This works well for me, the wife and kids. At under £10 per PC per year it doesn't feel expensive to me but obviously you have to be in a position to take advantage of this.

[Clariman]

I really didn't like the new office subscription model but I tried it and I loved it. You can pick up Office 365 home 5 user licence for under £50 for a year on amazon for example. This works well for me, the wife and kids. At under £10 per PC per year it doesn't feel expensive to me but obviously you have to be in a position to take advantage of this.

I nearly went for it, but I resent having to pay for what I already have (older software that does everything I need), so was relieved when I could get MS Money 2005, Outlook 2010 and Office 2007 working. So I will run with my old stuff until I they become unusable. Hopefully the Windows 10 platform will be around for a while so won't have to make any changes for a while.

If I had 3 teenage kids living at home, then the 5 user subscription model would be a no-brainer. My son is an adult and long since migrated to Apple. I can see the temptation.

C