Microsoft Mail (or MSMail ) was the name given to several Microsoft email products for local area networks , mainly by two architectures: one for Macintosh networks, and another for PC architecture based on LAN networks. All were eventually replaced by the Exchange and Outlook product lines .
Summary
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- 1 Mac Networks
- 2 PC Networks
- 1 Server architecture
- 2 Client architecture
- 3 References
Mac networks
The first Microsoft Mail product was introduced in 1988 for AppleTalk networks. It was based on InterMail, a product that Microsoft acquired and updated. An MS-DOS client was added for PCs on AppleTalk networks. It was later sold to become Quarterdeck Mail , then Star Nine Mail , and has long since been discontinued.
PC networks
The second Microsoft Mail product, Microsoft Mail for PC Networks v2.1 , was introduced in 1991. [1] It was based on Red Courier, a LAN email system produced by Vancouver BC software consumers , which Microsoft had acquired . Following the 1991 release line, Microsoft released its first major update as version 3.0, in 1992. This version included Microsoft’s first Global Address Book technology, and Microsoft Schedule Plus.
Versions 3.0 to 3.5 included email clients for MS-DOS, OS / 2 1.31, Mac OS, Windows (both 16-bit and 32-bit), separate from the Windows for Workgroups Mail client , [2] and a remote client based on DOS for use during pre- PPP / pre- SLIP modem dial-up connections. A reduced version of the PC-server based on Microsoft Mail for PC Networks , was included in Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 . The last version based on this architecture was 3.5; later, it was superseded by Microsoft Exchange Server , which started with version 4.0.
The client software was also called Microsoft Mail, and it was included in some older versions of Microsoft Office such as version 4.x. The Windows 95 “genuine” Inbox ( Exchange or Windows Messaging client ) also had the ability to connect to a Microsoft Mail server.
Microsoft Mail Server was eventually replaced by Microsoft Exchange ; Microsoft Mail Client, Microsoft Exchange, and Schedule Plus were eventually replaced by Microsoft Outlook (Windows and Mac).
Server architecture
Microsoft Mail was a shared mail system; the “post office” was a passive database of files that can reside on any file server. Clients use network drives and file sharing to write mail messages to the post office. Customers also acted as Message Transfer Agents (MTAs) for their own post offices, moving messages around the post office as needed, including forming message queues for outbound delivery to other offices. post, and processing queued messages as they arrive from external sources.
Client architecture
Customer handling of messages remained inconsistent throughout the life of the product. MS-DOS, dialup, and Mac OS clients to the left of messages stored on the server; Windows and OS / 2 clients downloaded messages instead, using a local file (MMF) as storage. While this could be located on a file server, the various file locking issues meant that a single user could access their mail from a single computer at a time
