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Q152230: XFOR: Current Microsoft Internet Mail Products

Article: Q152230
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 3.0,4.0,95
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbusage
Last Modified: 18-MAY-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0 
- Microsoft Mail Gateway to SMTP, version 3.0 
- the operating system: Microsoft Windows 95 
- Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 
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SUMMARY
=======

There are currently four products available from Microsoft that use the SMTP
protocol to access Internet mail. This article outlines how these products
differ and what support options are available to customers.

The four products are:

- Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector

- Microsoft Mail Gateway to SMTP Version 3.0

- Windows Messaging (Formally Microsoft Internet Mail Service for Windows 95
  Exchange)

- Microsoft Internet Mail 1.0

MORE INFORMATION
================

The four different Internet mail products enable users to access SMTP mail and
fit into two basic types of products. The first type of product are Enterprise
connectors which enable workgroups or entire operations to access Internet mail
without direct connectivity to the Internet and connectors that attach to
enterprise e-mail systems and retrieve SMTP mail for an entire domain. The
second type of Internet mail product enables a user to directly send Internet
mail using the SMTP protocol and to retrieve e-mail using the POP3 protocol.
POP3 is Post Office Protocol version 3 and is used for clients that are not
permanently connected to the Internet and are not part of an enterprise
messaging system.

Enterprise Connectors
---------------------

Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector (IMC) Part #: 67743.

Included with Microsoft Exchange Server Enterprise Edition. Part #:67742 Protocol
Support: SMTP, MIME, UUENCODE, DNS Supported by: Microsoft Information Exchange
Support

The Internet Mail Connector (IMC) is the Internet mail component for Microsoft
Exchange Server. Microsoft Exchange is a world class enterprise messaging
system. The IMC is a robust connector that can directly connect to the Internet
to retrieve and send SMTP mail. The IMC can also use another SMTP host on the
Internet to deliver and receive Internet mail. This allows the intermediate SMTP
server to act as a proxy on behalf of the IMC. This robust connector can
facilitate simultaneous outgoing and incoming SMTP mail transfers and can be
configured to support MIME and UUENCODE file attachments and supports rich text
formatting.

This product fully integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server as a Windows NT
service. This gives the messaging service administrator the ability to configure
SMTP mail options for the entire enterprise.

MICROSOFT MAIL GATEWAY TO SMTP VERSION 3.0 Part #: 56770.
---------------------------------------------------------

Protocol Support: SMTP, UUENCODE Supported by: Microsoft Information Exchange
Support

The Microsoft Mail Gateway is the Internet mail component for Microsoft Mail.
Microsoft Mail is the legacy shared file system (SFS) enterprise messaging
system. The gateway enables users of Microsoft Mail to send and receive SMTP
mail. The gateway must use another SMTP host (smarthost) on the Internet to
deliver Internet mail. The SMTP gateway is an MS-DOS program that runs on a
dedicated PC. It can handle one connection at a time. Because of this
limitation, it is recommended that the SMTP smarthost also receive mail on
behalf of the gateway by implementing an MX record on the smarthost DNS server.
This directs other SMTP hosts on the Internet to deliver mail bound for the
gateway to the smarthost for more robust performance.

This product does not support the MIME protocol for file attachments and does not
implement DNS.

POP3 CLIENTS
------------

WINDOWS MESSAGING (Formally Microsoft Internet Mail Service for Windows 95
Exchange)

Included with Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and on
the Microsoft World Wide Web server (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/software.)
Protocol Support: SMTP, POP3, MIME, UUENCODE, DNS Supported by: Microsoft Answer
Point Desktop Support

Windows Messaging is the electronic mail client that is included with Windows 95.
The client was originally called Microsoft Exchange for Windows 95 but this has
caused confusion with the Microsoft Exchange Server products.

Windows Messaging is a client that can be extended with services that integrate
with the product. Multiple services can be added to allow connectivity to
different mail systems, including the Internet. The service for SMTP mail is
Microsoft Internet Mail Service for Windows 95. Once installed, the client must
directly connect to the Internet and connect to a POP3 server to retrieve mail.

Windows Messaging must have access to an SMTP server to send mail and a POP3
server to retrieve mail. The POP3 service is usually provided and supported by
the Internet Service Provider (ISP) that also provides dial-up Internet access.

MICROSOFT INTERNET MAIL 1.0 *BETA PRODUCT*
------------------------------------------

Available on the Microsoft World Wide Web server
(http://www.microsoft.com/ie/imn/). Protocol Support: SMTP, POP3, MIME,
UUENCODE, DNS Supported by: No formal Microsoft support while in beta. Peer to
peer on Microsoft's NNTP server:

  news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.internet.mail
  news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.internet.news

Microsoft Internet Mail is the newest electronic mail client for Windows NT 4.0
and Windows 95. This client only supports SMTP/POP3 and does not work with other
mail systems. It cannot be extended by adding services like the Windows
Messaging client. This client is easy to set up, has a preview pane, and has an
address book. This client is primarily designed to be quick and easy to use
without having as many features as the Windows Messaging client.

Microsoft Internet Mail must have access to an SMTP server to send mail and a
POP3 server to retrieve mail. The POP3 service is usually provided and supported
by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) that also provides dial-up Internet
access.

THIS PRODUCT IS CURRENTLY IN BETA. Support is limited to the NNTP newsgroups
listed above.

Additional query words: isp pcmail smtp gatway

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbusage 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbWin95search kbExchangeSearch kbExchange400 kbGamesSearch kbZNotKeyword2 kbMailSearch kbPlusSearch kbMailGateSearch kbWordPad95 kbWin95
Version           : :3.0,4.0,95

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