re: Windows live mail - Addresses & Names
Hi Wirth,
Here's the news - and it's not exactly what we wanted to hear but there are some workarounds that may be satisfactory - at least to me if not to you (and I've included other options as well).
As amazing as it seems to me as well, it has been confirmed that it will insert the contents of the From field (which is a Name) in replies and from
there you can't see the e-mail address no matter what you do - I too am stunned by this. But there is a way to get to see these addresses - just not once you've hit reply or rather, not from the reply box itself. It's an astonishing oversight (at the very least, it should allow you to hover the mouse over the name to see the e-mail address) but it does appear to be the case. Still, like I said, it can still be seen with just a little extra effort. The MVP I spoke to didn't seem to think this was a very big deal given it is available by other means (but he probably uses Outlook like I do).
If you select to
add the Reading Pane on the main inbox or other mailbox page (in Views / Reading Pane / Bottom of Message list (or Side of Message List) and
check show message header in Reading Pane), then when you select the mesage to which you want to reply (but don't hit reply yet) you will be able to see
both the name and the e-mail address of the person who sent the e-mail to which you want to reply (though you may need to go to the message and hover your mouse over the Name to get the e-mail address to appear).
If you don't want the reading pane, it seems to work if you right click on the message and click properties and it will show both the name and the e-mail address. IMHO, as long as I can see the address there (and it's relatively quick and easy even if it doesn't show automatically), then I really don't need to see it in the reply section itself since I already know what it is (and can go back to it if I want to refresh my memory with a cllck or two back on the main page from the reply page). Once you actually send the reply, the message will be in Sent Items and if you go to that folder and select the message, it will simlarly show the e-mail address in the Reading Pane or with properties there as well (it's not like if you reply you lose that information on replied messages) - either in the header or the from column or in the body of the message or in properties (or in several of those places in some cases - though I don't know how to contol it - from what I see on my system - except it seems to always work with properties). Personally, I can live with this (as I usually know to whom I'm replying regardless of the actual email address), but for you, that's entirely your decision.
If you elect to find another e-mail client (and don't want to pay for Outlook in a Microsoft Office Suite where I
know for certain this is not an issue since that's what I really use almost all of the time), then I recommend you check out the following link of free e-mail client alternatives
Top 12 Free Email Programs for Windows - About Email and suggest you take a close look at Thunderbird as many seem to think it's the best of the lot.
I realize this issue makes WLM 2011 less than perfect, but I'm not sure I'd consider it a killer blow.
All of the e-mail clients have some problem or other by design or from time-to-time (even Outlook causes me a bit of grief at times, but it is otherwise so far superior that I'll put up with it). If interested in Outlook despite the fact that it isn't free, the cheapest way to get it is with Office Home and Business
Office 2010: Which suite is right for you? - Microsoft Office and you can probably do a little better than that price if you shop around.
Then again, we can always return to WM and try again to tackle the arrow issue ("groan"), but I don't have much hope there even if it seems like it should be controllable despite our total lack of success the first time.
I'm sorry we can't fix this issue as we would prefer, but I've given you the options and workarounds and alternatives and now it's pretty much up to you how you want to proceed.
I hope this helps.
Good luck!