Important news if you currently access your Windows Live Hotmail with Outlook Express, come June 30th. this will no longer be possible.

A change is coming for users that access Hotmail with Outlook Express. Outlook Express uses a protocol called DAV (Distributed Authoring and Versioning protocol) to access a Windows Live™ Hotmail® e-mail account. DAV, like POP3 or IMAP, is the way that a mail client communicates with a web-based mail server.

As of June 30, 2008, Microsoft is disabling the DAV protocol and you will no longer be able to access your Hotmail Inbox via Outlook Express. As an alternative, we recommend that you download Windows Live Mail, a free desktop e-mail client that has the familiarity of Outlook Express and much more.

This next generation of free e-mail software will allow you to easily manage multiple e-mail accounts—including Windows Live Hotmail, plus other e-mail accounts that support POP3/IMAP. Better yet, Windows Live Mail integrates well with other Windows Live services, and downloads in minutes. After you provide your user name and password, you will automatically be linked to your Hotmail account, providing continued access to your email and contacts.

We encourage you to download Windows Live Mail at http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview.

DAV is being replaced with DeltaSync, which is more suitable for large inboxes, Outlook Express does not support this and will not be adjusted to do so. This change is needed since Windows Live Hotmail offers 5GB free storage (10GB for Plus).

For the full story and some frequently asked questions, read Windows Live Hotmail Technical Support Blog: Microsoft Announces Changes for Accessing Hotmail with Outlook Express