The Windows Live team announces that POP3 access to Hotmail has been enabled worldwide, finally ending years of your email being trapped behind Microsoft apps.


They've been rolling out these changes for a while now, with the US finally getting access last month, but POP3 access is finally available to everybody. Setting it up is fairly simple in most email applications—just create a new account using the following details from the Windows Live team:

Hotmail Enables POP3 for US Users Ars Technica cites an "insider" in announcing that POP3 access for Hotmail users has been activated Read more

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


Lifehacker readers are obviously more partial to the geek-friendly Gmail that has not just POP3 but IMAP support, but most of us still have a hotmail account laying around—which you can finally backup using Fetchmail or Thunderbird (just modify the instructions to use your Hotmail account instead).

A new way to get Hotmail on your phone [Windows Live Hotmail via Ars Technica]