What is the difference between Outlook and Outlook Express?

Outlook and Outlook Express were designed by different programming teams for different audiences with different needs. Outlook Express was developed as part of Internet Explorer with the home user in mind while Outlook was developed as part of Microsoft Office with the corporate user in mind. Outlook Express is a basic Internet mail program that is part of Internet Explorer and Windows. Outlook is a full-featured personal information manager that is available as a part of Microsoft Office and also as a stand-alone program.
Outlook Express handles not only Internet mail but also Internet news, a feature that Outlook does not natively possess. But Outlook has a host of features that Outlook Express does not have, such as a calendar, a task list, a journal, and automatic backup into archive files. The address book in Outlook is a very sophisticated contact management system unlike the simple address book used by Outlook Express. Outlook can be programmed using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) but Outlook Express cannot. Outlook is highly interoperable and so can be used in combination with Word, for example, to perform mail-merge in e-mail or to automate outgoing mail messages. Outlook Express does not interact with other programs in this way except for creating a new mail message when a program requests it.

Outlook also has a very powerful Junk Mail feature which has received high praise and is envied just as highly by many Outlook Express users. In a similar vein, Outlook has message rules for both incoming and outgoing mail, while Outlook Express can only filter incoming. Outlook rules also offer a much wider range of actions than do rules in Outlook Express. One important difference applies to network environments, whether an office intranet or a home network. Outlook Express was designed for use on a single computer and so its message store and settings cannot be stored on a server. Outlook however was tailor-made for networks, and so its message store can be on a central server that many machines can access. If you need to access your e-mail from more than one machine on your network, Outlook Express is just not the solution for you. For further information please view the below give Microsoft Articles:

1. Article Title: Differences between Outlook and Outlook Express
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257824/EN-US/#XSLTH3154121123120121120120



2. Article Title: Differences between Outlook and Outlook Express
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257824

3. Article Title: Outlook and Outlook Express: Brothers, not twins
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA010565781033.aspx

4. Article Title: Outlook Express and Outlook
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/outlookvsoe.mspx