A free Hotmail account allows you to keep your primary address private, and use Hotmail as a "disposable" email address for giving out to online shops, mailing lists, and other places that might result in your getting unwanted email (spam). But accessing your Hotmail via the web could be a bit hit-and-miss: into the gap stepped httpmail, a plug-in that allowed you to send and receive email as you would with any POP account using Apple Mail. However, Microsoft have recently begun disabling access to Hotmail via email clients—including Apple Mail/ httpmail—unless you give them money...
Try accessing your Hotmail account via Outlook Express and you'll now be greeted with this message:
Using Apple Mail and httpmail, you'll just see an exclamation icon next to your Hotmail mailbox indicating that it is offline.
As MacNN reports:
Microsoft has began requiring Hotmail customers to purchase premium subscriptions in order access email from desktop email clients. Users of Microsoft Entourage, which features direct integration with Hotmail, this morning began receiving alerts noting that they would need to purchase a paid Hotmail subscription in order to access their Hotmail accounts from within Entourage. As noted by MacNN in September, Microsoft said it would disable direct access to Hotmail from desktop clients such as Outlook, Outlook Express, and Entourage in an attempt fight spam. "Microsoft says that spammers have been abusing the Outlook feature and creating false Hotmail accounts using an automated process from which they can send huge batches of unwanted commercial messages.
Likewise, the httpmail pages note:
Since Microsoft has decided to start charging for WebDav access to the Hotmail servers, unless people cough up, they will not be able to connect using programs like Outlook or Entourage. Unfortunately this also affects the plugin :(
There isn't a lot I can do about this, but I can verify that the plugin still works with "upgraded" Hotmail accounts.
So how do you know when you have new Hotmail without periodically checking the Hotmail website? One way is to install the IM client Fire, editing your Hotmail account options to show mail alerts:
When you have new Hotmail, File will now alert you:
Note: You won't get an alert for mail that Hotmail considers "Junk": this is a good thing!
Update 23.02.05: It seems Entourage (MS Office 2004) will still download Hotmail; it just won't let you send it.
Are there any email clients that work with httpmail and OS X? I want to use a real email program and NOT the web browesr application. I can't believe that Entourage does not send & receive MSN premium mail. What the ????
Thanks
Jeff, I believe both Apple Mail and Entourage will let you send and receive Hotmail if you pay to upgrade your Hotmail account. Neither will work if you have a free account only.
I have had MSN email for years. The fact that Microsoft would pull this from their butts to make loyal customers cough up money to access their own email is remarkable. This is just another reason Macs are building a loyal base. I can access and send email on my mac account but not MSN(hotmail) while using entourage! Seems really wacky!
Patrick, I no longer use Hotmail or Entourage; the older of my two Hotmail accounts was still working in Entourage at the time I deleted it. According to this Microsoft KB article access via Outlook to some Hotmail accounts was being phased out sooner than to others, but eventually all support will cease (if it hasn't already).
Gmail is a good alternative; I'm not happy with .Mac (see here) and don't think Apple is any better than Microsoft at rewarding subscriber loyalty.
I have been using Entourage for about two weeks and I started to get an error message. "Premium subscription required to access Hotmail" I click the link below but it gets me nowhere. How can I get me Entourage to work again! I'll pay the $20 a year, i don't care! I just want it to work.