Do it yourself: building your network
			Soup it up: adding the extras
			• Get the message
			• Network    notebooks
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			Keep it simple: network alternatives

Windows 95 comes with a basic messaging program called WinPopup. If it's not in your Startup folder, you'll need to install it using the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs icon. WinPopup lets you send brief notes that display on other network users' screens (including those on attached Windows NT systems). WinPopup is a long way from full-fledged email, but it's a fine way to tell your teenager: "Dinner is ready. Stop Dooming now!"

Microsoft Mail
If you want real electronic mail in your house, and if all the network machines are running Windows 95 or NT Workstation, you can use a program called Microsoft Mail Postoffice to set up a basic mail server for your network.

You set up a post office on one computer in the network, and then all the other users can send and receive mail across the network using Microsoft Exchange. (If you installed Office 97, Exchange has been replaced by Outlook 97. They are compatible with each other, so you can use either one.) You can also use Exchange/Outlook 97 to read and send mail through your ISP.

It can be a little complicated to set up a post office and all the mailboxes--consult your Windows documentation for more information on how it works. Remember, you won't be able to access your network email account from outside the network. If you want to be able to read email from the office, you'll need to forward your email via your ISP.

Web-based email
If setting up post offices and email clients seems too complicated, there's a simpler option: Web-based email. Free services such as Hotmail and RocketMail let you establish accounts that you can check from anywhere you can connect to the Web--home, work, and even public terminals at libraries and schools.

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