Hotmail has now made its POP3 email feature available worldwide to all Hotmail accounts. POP3 also called Post Office Protocol version 3 is an Internet standard protocol used by local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP connection.
Enable Hotmail POP3 in Thunderbird, Outlook
Enabling POP3 access from Hotmail allows you to easily access your emails using the e-mail software on your computer (like Thunderbird, Outlook) or mobile devices such as a Windows Mobile phone, iPhone, or BlackBerry.
Here are the email client settings you need for starting POP3
POP server: pop3.live.com (Port 995)
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID (full email address)
Password: Hotmail or Windows Live password
SMTP server: smtp.live.com(Port 25 or 587)
Authentication required? Yes (same POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes
Gmail had POP3 access for a long time which lets me read my emails easily in email clients like Thunderbird or access it from other email accounts. Now the Hotmail users rejoice with better connectivity and email on the move.