If you have a Microsoft email account – this may be a Hotmail.com, Outlook.com or Live.com address – you will no doubt have become used to checking your email online. If you have decided to use an email client such as Outlook to manage you email, you can receive desktop notifications when you receive new mail, and this is something that Howard offers without the need for an email client.

The idea is very simple. This tiny application with display a system tray notification icon whenever you receive a new email in your Microsoft email account. This is helpful in its own right as it means that there is no need to keep manually checking the state of your inbox to see if you have new messages.

When the tray notification appears, you can choose what happens when you click it – you could opt to open a particular email client, or switch to the relevant website. Sadly, there is only support for a single email account, but this is a limitation that can be overcome if you configure your email account to pull in messages from multiple accounts.

There are very few options that you need to concern yourself with. You can change the style of the icon that is used in the taskbar – so you can choose one that matches the particular email service you are using – and you can also choose how often the app should check for mail. If you receive a high volume of emails, you may want to check every 30 seconds, but if you receive less checking every couple of hours may be enough.