Microsoft has announced that they will be discontinuing the support for Basic Authentication and that they will only allow applications using Modern Authentication (which is considered more secure) to access their platform which includes Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com, MSN.com and other national domains like Outlook.de, Outlook.fr and so on.
This of course means that some older email applications will stop working completely when they disable the support for the Basic Authentication.
However, OE Classic already supports what they call the Modern Authentication for over 2 years now. In OE Classic we simply call it Microsoft account or sometimes OAUTH2 in our support (an umbrella term for all such accounts).
While you can do this right away or when the change comes, you can simply run the account wizard (main menu » Tools » Accounts » Add...) and from the initial Account Wizard window select the Microsoft option.
The wizard then asks you if you want to add an IMAP or a POP account, and after selecting one and clicking the Next button, it opens a web browser for you to log in. After successful log in, you can return back to OE Classic and click Finish to add the account.
We have described this in a video, which is linked below:
The video shows the older icon named "Outlook/Microsoft" but the process remains the same. In the most recent versions of OE Classic it is only called "Microsoft" account. However, the rest of the authentication flow remains the same and shown in the video.
If you don't already have the latest version of OE Classic which supports this, you can update as usual using the built-in updater (main menu » Help » Check for updates) or from our "User" web page - https://www.oeclassic.com/user
[2024-05-02] Added message duplication (copying messages to the same folder)
You now have the ability to duplicate messages within the same folder. This allows you to create a copy of any message in the folder you're currently viewing. This feature is particularly useful when you wish to use certain emails as templates and need to make copies that can be edited. This applies to both received messages and drafts. You can duplicate messages using the Drag-and-Drop method, the right-click Copy to Folder option, or through the Search/Find window.
[2024-05-02] Improved displayed folder message list update after a copy/move operation to preserve existing selection
The way the message list updates after a Copy/Move operation has been improved. Previously, the entire message list would refresh when messages were copied or moved, which would deselect the currently selected messages. Now, messages are simply added or removed from the list, depending on whether the folder is the destination or source. This ensures your current message selection is preserved, while the message list still updates correctly.
[2024-04-07] Copy and Paste selected messages from the Message List (can be pasted to new message as .EML file, File Explorer, or any other program supporting standard file paste functionality)
You can now copy messages from the Message List as .EML files. Just highlight a few of them and from the Edit menu choose the Copy option (or press CTRL+C). These copied messages can then be pasted into email messages under composition as .EML file attachments (just like any other file attachments), but also you can paste them outside of OE Classic, such as in File Explorer, in Windows desktop, in another file management program and so on. This makes it possible to export messages out of OE Classic, for example not the entire folder but only a few selected messages, which should make management of messages much easier. Up until now, it was only possible to drag and drop messages into OE Classic folders but now it is possible to copy and paste them out of the program as well.
The Copy function is now context dependent. Previously, highlighting a message and using the Copy function would copy the message text. This functionality still exists but only if you highlight the Preview Pane (and use the Copy option). So in short, if the Message List is highlighted then Copy will copy the selected messages as .EML files, and if the Preview Pane is highlighted then currently displayed message text will be copied instead.
[2024-03-28] Forward as Attachment in the main window and the Search window
It is now possible to forward messages as attached .EML files. To Forward as Attachment, please select one or more messages in the main window message list, or in the Find/Search window message list. Then, right-click the messages and choose Forward as Attachment. A new email will be created with the .EML files being attached as expected.
Also, if you select a single message and click the Forward button, it will forward that message as before (as inline text). But if you multi-select messages then the same button automatically invokes Forward as Attachment, so the messages are attached instead. So using Forward as Attachment as a menu item is only required if you want to forward exactly one message as an attachment, otherwise the Forward button will suffice in that functionality.
If you forget to add some messages initially when choosing the Forward as Attachment function, you can also use the above Copy and Paste functionality to add more messages into the message you are already creating.
Forward as Attachment option in the popup menu.
Bug fixes
[2024-03-31] Reordering of the Address Book State/ZIP/Country fields
Some customers have noted that the order of these fields is not correct. We have changed the order of the fields into something more usual. The functionality otherwise remains unchanged.
[2024-03-28] Fixed access violation error that occurred when closing the program
[2024-03-25] Added support for Google Contacts with Sync/Add/Edit/Delete functionality in the Address Book
If you are using Gmail, GoogleMail, or Google Workspace (essentially Gmail with a custom domain), you can now directly sync your contacts from Google Contacts (avoiding the need to export or import). In addition to synchronizing contacts, Google Workspace users can also synchronize their directory contacts as well (this feature is not available to regular Gmail users). Directory contacts are read-only in Google Contacts, so they are shown in OE Classic with a lock icon.
In order to use this feature, first of all, please make sure you have added the Google account type in the Account Wizard because only that type of accounts can display Google Contacts in OE Classic’s Address Book. This feature will not work with the standard "Email" type of accounts (for example, if you are using an app password).
If you need a tutorial how to add a Google account, here it is:
Having done that, open the Address Book in OE Classic and as soon as you do that, you will notice one or more new folders with the cloud icon, named after the appropriate Google account name. These are your cloud contact folders. To synchronize your contacts, right-click on the name of the cloud contact folder and choose the Sync Contacts option from the popup menu, and the available contacts in Google Contacts will be synced to OE Classic’s Address Book.
To create a cloud contact directly in OE Classic, select the cloud folder first and then click the New button. A contact editor will appear and you can type in the necessary details. After clicking the Add Contact button, the contact will be added both to the OE Classic Address Book and online to Google Contacts.
To edit a contact directly from OE Classic, double-click it as usual and edit the desired fields. After clicking the Save button, the contact will be updated both in Google Contacts and in OE Classic.
The same applies for deleting contacts - when you delete it from OE Classic, it will be moved to the Google Contacts "Trash" folder. Items in the "Trash" are not visible in OE Classic, and can be accessed or recovered only using Google Contacts.
If you make changes to contacts directly in Google Contacts (or in another copy of OE Classic), simply right-click again over the appropriate cloud contacts folder and choose Sync Contacts again to update the contact list.
For a demo, please watch the provided video below.
[2024-03-25] Automatic verification of disabled IMAP/POP settings for Google accounts (while adding the account)
When creating a Google account, if the IMAP or POP setting is not enabled, OE Classic will notify you.
[2024-03-25] New Address Book icons for contacts (includes cloud contacts icons)
[2024-03-25] New cloud root folder shown for Gmail/Google Workspace accounts in the Address Book
[2024-03-25] All fields in the Contact Editor are now trimmed, not just email fields like before
[2024-03-25] Added a tooltip for long items in the Contact Editor's folder selection dropdown box, visible when hovering with the mouse cursor
Bug fixes
[2024-03-25] Fixed the "No folder is selected" error that occurred on startup
[2024-03-25] Message Editor now issues a warning instead of allowing emails to be sent to a group with no contacts in it
[2024-01-25] Added Reauthenticate button in the Account Properties for Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL accounts, in case of a password change
When you change your password for your Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, or AOL accounts using the webmail interface, applications like OE Classic that were previously authorized lose access to the email service. The new Reauthenticate button solves this issue by allowing you to give OE Classic access to the account again. Before this feature was introduced, you had to delete and re-add the account, which was not only cumbersome but also had drawbacks like needing to re-download IMAP folders all over again or losing the list of already downloaded messages for POP accounts (UIDL list).
If you use multiple accounts with the same email service and mistakenly reauthenticate an account different from the one saved in OE Classic, the program will alert you and ask for reauthentication with the same username.
The Reauthenticate button doesn't appear for standard IMAP or POP email accounts because these are authenticated using the regular username and password, so it's not necessary.
In addition to the above, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and AOL accounts now display their respective service icons instead of the generic mail envelope icon in the Account Properties. This helps you to easily identify the type of the account.
[2024-01-16] Added Copy and Select All functionality to the Message Editor attachments list (also in the popup menu)
We've improved the functionality of Copy and Select All by adding them into the Message Editor attachment section as well, in addition to the previously existing Message Viewer functionality for the same thing. This way, not only you can copy and paste attachments from incoming emails into a message under composition, but you can also copy one or more attachments from the message under composition into for example another message under composition in another window, or into another program which accepts standard Windows copy and paste functionality for files.
Updated popup menu in the Message Editor attachments list.
Bug fixes
[2024-01-16] Fixed misbehavior of Select All and Copy not working correctly in Edit and ListView controls in the Message Editor and Message Viewer
[2024-01-11] Corrected multiple issues related to the retention of window locations when utilizing multiple monitors
The following issues have now been resolved:
The program failed to remember the positions of certain windows, including the Address Book, Search, and Message Viewer. This has been corrected.
Previously, if a window was moved to another monitor and then maximized, the program would not remember that it had been moved and had reopened it the next time on the previous monitor. This issue has been fixed.
There was a problem where some windows, which remember their position and size, could not be placed on one monitor while the main program was on another. This is no longer an issue.
[2024-01-11] Resolved the issue of message headers not being shown when utilizing the print function with the Edge Chromium browser engine
[2023-12-06] Copy and Paste and Drag and Drop received message attachments from the Message Viewer to the Message Editor, File Explorer, or any other program supporting standard drag and drop functionality
The functionality for managing attachments has been enhanced with improved Copy and Paste or Drag and Drop features. Previously, only some Drag and Drop operations were possible between some windows with no Copy and Paste support for files. This update enhances this by adding even more combinations and adds the support for Copy and Paste as well. The following is possible:
Message Viewer to Message Editor: You can now Copy and Paste or Drag and Drop message attachments from the Message Viewer to the Message Editor.
Message Viewer to other programs: Attachments can also be copied from the Message Viewer to the File Explorer, Windows desktop, or any other program that supports standard Copy and Paste or Drag and Drop functionality for files.
Other programs to Message Editor: Files can be transferred from the File Explorer, Windows desktop, or any other program that supports standard Copy and Paste or Drag and Drop functionality for files, to the Message Editor using either Copy and Paste or Drag and Drop. While the previous version supported attaching files via Drag and Drop, this version adds support for the Copy and Paste method as well.
[2023-11-25] Improved window management in multi-monitor setups
This feature enhances the management of windows in a multi-monitor setup. Here is how it works:
If you move the main window between two monitors and then close the program, it will reopen fully on the monitor that contained the majority of the window area after you restart the program.
If a monitor is removed or the settings are transferred to another computer, and the last saved position of the window was on the now-absent monitor, the window will be automatically repositioned within the remaining monitor. Note that powered-off (but still connected) monitor cannot be detected so it won't work in that situation, only the monitor which is removed in Windows "Display settings".
Previously, if a window was moved to another monitor and maximized, it wouldn't remember its position. This issue has now been resolved.
These improvements ensure that your windows are always displayed correctly, regardless of changes to your monitor setup.
Bug fixes
[2023-11-22] Ensuring that the main window components cannot move beyond the visible area