Getting POP/SMTP access to Hotmail?

I was trying to help a work colleague, Haris Ahmed, access his hotmail account via MS Outlook last night. I manage several email accounts using the MS Outlook email client and I was sure that this would be as easy as the rest... I was wrong!

Hotmail restrict the use of external mail clients for one reason alone, Advertising. You see MSN use the free email service as an advertising billboard and aren’t too keen for you to get your email from anywhere other than them.

It reminded me of a post i read about losing traffic through rss on the Virtuaffinity Blog.

I predict we'll soon see a move by consumers to services that will allow external access. As mobile devices become more popular in our information driven culture consumers will vote with their feet... I certainly will!