LiveSide - News blog : POP3

Microsoft to discontinue DAV email protocol September 1st

Kip Kniskern — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:13:59 GMT

In a blog post on Windows Live Wire, Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue the DAV protocol for accessing Hotmail on September 1, 2009. DAV (or WebDAV) is an older protocol, not suited to large inboxes, and with free POP3 access for all Hotmail accounts now available, the DAV protocol is no longer needed.

If you are still using DAV to access your email, for example from Outlook (not the Outlook Connector), or from Outlook Express or Apple’s Entourage, you’'ll need to make some changes before September. From the blog post:

If you use Microsoft Office Outlook to view Hotmail, download Office Outlook Connector (it’s free) to continue accessing your Hotmail within Outlook 2003 or 2007. If you’re using Outlook 2002, you’ll need to change the settings in your Outlook program. Learn more about this from the Windows Live Solution Center article on Hotmail and Outlook.

If you use Outlook Express to view Hotmail, you can download Windows Live Mail (recommended) for free, or change your settings in Outlook Express to continue accessing your Hotmail there. Learn more about this from the Windows Live Solution Center article on Hotmail and Outlook Express.

If you use Entourage to view Hotmail, you’ll need to change the settings in Entourage to continue receiving Hotmail messages there. Learn more about this from the Windows Live Solution Center article on Hotmail and Entourage.

POP3 Technology Has Now Rolled Out To Hotmail Customers Worldwide

Sunshine — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:11:49 GMT

Hotmail POP3 access on the way? No, it’s here! POP3 technology has now rolled out to Hotmail customers WORLDWIDE!

What is POP3? It is a protocol that allows retrieval of your emails in almost any email program that you’ve installed on your mobile phone or PC. Here’s all the information you might need when setting this up in your email program:

POP server: pop3.live.com (Port 995)
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example yourname@hotmail.com
Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live
SMTP server: smtp.live.com (Port 25 or 587)
Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes

In addition to POP3, Microsoft offers additional technologies that can provide you with an even richer experience of your e-mail. Try viewing your Hotmail using Windows Live Mail, Microsoft Office Outlook via the Outlook Connector, or Windows Live for Windows Mobile phone.

Looking for help with Hotmail? Visit the Windows Live Hotmail Solution Center! The Solution Center has instructions on how to set up your e-mail software to send and receive Windows Live Hotmail messages using POP3. You’ll also find instructions on how to set up Hotmail on the web to give you POP3 access to a non-Windows Live e-mail account. If you have problems using POP3 access, Windows Live Hotmail Solution Center also has links to report a problem with Hotmail.

Hotmail POP3 access now available for US, Brazil, 9 others

Kip Kniskern — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:43:00 GMT

Legacy mail protocol POP3, which has gained some favor because it allows access to Hotmail accounts from Gmail and/or the iPhone, has now been rolled out to Brazil and US users, according to Ars Technica and numerous other reports. This would bring the number of countries with free Hotmail POP3 support to 11, adding to the list provided by the Windows Live blog in January. Here’s the setup info:

POP server: pop3.live.com (Port 995)
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example yourname@hotmail.com
Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live
SMTP server: smtp.live.com (Port 25)
Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes

Previously POP3 support was only available on Hotmail Plus accounts.

Hotmail update starts rolling out for all users, POP3 coming to the US

damaster — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:13:22 GMT

Today the Hotmail team has finally announced the start of the roll out process for all users worldwide to the latest Wave 3 update of Hotmail and People.

The Hotmail team has been hard at work since our last release in the fall, and we’ve got a bunch of new features coming out… and we’re rolling them out now!

If you haven’t seen any changes yet, they’ll be rolling out gradually, so you should see them in the next week or two.

If you’ve been keeping track of the latest at LiveSide, we’ve previously posted what new features are to come in this update. See our previous articles on the latest features for Hotmail and People. To recap, Windows Live Wire blog posted a summary of all the new features coming in this update:

More storage in Hotmail. Start with 5 GB, and watch your storage grow, as you need it.

More themes in Hotmail (including some that change based on time of day or weather)

The top banner ad moved to the side. (You’ve been waiting for that, haven’t you?)

Quickly add maps, directions, movie times and more to e-mail messages. It makes planning a night out so much easier. (UK and US-only, for the moment)

See “what’s new” updates from people in your network on Hotmail’s Today page.

Get Hotmail on your mobile phone’s e-mail program. POP3 access is becoming available to Hotmail users in the US and Brazil, in addition to United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Create e-mail signatures in HTML. Get as fancy as you want to be.

The People page has been re-organized.

I’m surprised though that there’s no mention of the new Web Messenger integration anywhere on the two blog posts. I hope they’re just keeping it as a surprise. After all from the screenshot on Windows Live People above the “Messenger” button is clearly visible, and our friend Picturepan2 from LiveSino had also been noticing that Web Messenger is starting to show up on 2 of his accounts.

Have you received the latest update to your Hotmail and People yet? Leave us a note!

POP3 Access for Hotmail here/coming soon?

Kip Kniskern — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:01:32 GMT

A Dutch website, www.iphoneclub.nl, is reporting that at least some users are able to access Hotmail on their iPhones using POP3, which has been promised for Hotmail for free but up until now has only been available with a Hotmail Plus account.

Another iPhone news site, iPhonetunes, has an English translation of the Dutch post.

A quick test here didn’t get it working with a mail client (no iPhone to try), and we suspect this may be a trial in the Dutch market before deploying more widely, but for those of you who want/need Hotmail POP3 access for your iPhone etc, it may be coming sooner rather than later.