http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,3...9115680,00.htm
Microsoft abandons Outlook Express
Microsoft will not do any more development work on the world's most popular email client
It might be the world's most widely distributed email client, but Microsoft has confirmed that it has no intention of further developing Outlook Express.
"[Outlook Express] just sits where it is," said Dan Leach, lead product manager for Microsoft's information worker product management group. "The technology doesn't go away, but no new work is being done. It is consumer email in an early iteration, and our investment in the consumer space is now focused around Hotmail and MSN. That's where we're putting the emphasis in terms of new investment and new development work."