Outlook express may be named that, or it may be named Microsoft Mail - I'm not sure if the re-name was applied to XP or not.
As someone mentioned, make sure "Use Small Icons" is checked on the bar. For Windows Explorer, hit the Microsoft key on your keyboard - it should be between the Ctrl and the Alt keys at the bottom left. That should let you find your programs such as mail and IE, or whatever you are using as an internet browser.
The Windows button on the keyboard just opens up the Start menu.
I used RUN/BROWSE to find the items I was looking for, of course once you have easy access to Explorer, then you have access to everything else.