LeoHamm said

As specified in the documentation I have presented, Microsoft WILL drop support of IMAP and POP in late June.

Those pages do not say that. What they say is:

• Your WLM will not work with Outlook.com accounts when they are switched over the new infrastructure (because DeltaSync is not compatible).
• Your WLM will continue to work with POP and IMAP accounts you might be using WLM with.

Is there any indication that Thunderbird or any program OTHER than WLM won't be able to connect to Outlook.com using IMAP? Nope. You are reading into those articles something that is not there.

Outlook.com is migrating to the Office 365 infrastructure. This change began with a preview last year, [1] and came out of preview in February. [2] This is not a strange new world of "ActiveSync only": Office 365 supports POP and IMAP. Microsoft posted in June 2015, and a Microsoft MVP posted in July 2015, when the Outlook.com change was initially announced that you could use IMAP. [3] I see no indication in the articles you cited that this is changing. What I see is that the proprietary DeltaSync protocol is finally going away, which will break the default connection method in WLM, while the IMAP standard lives on.

[1] https://blogs.office.com/2015/05/21/new-ways-to-get-more-done-in-outlook-com/ ; http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/oemail-osend/outlookcom-backend-migrating-to-office365/f49b6798-ea29-420c-bc47-f5c992c85e5b [2] https://blogs.office.com/2016/02/17/outlook-com-out-of-preview-and-better-than-ever/ [3] http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/wiki/livemail-email/windows-live-mail-and-outlook-mail/6edb5ba6-f9f2-40fd-80a1-fc23cc6fbfe0 ; https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/microsoft.public.windows.live.mail.desktop/mEShAgb1Qb0

jscher2000,

I had said I needed word from a Microsoft person on this subject, and the following post, with a reference to the Microsoft blog included, should be enough to convince you, but probably not. However, it may be helpful to some who have followed this question.

"Today’s post was written by Javier Soltero, corporate vice president for the Outlook team.

To provide you an email experience with enhanced performance, security and reliability, the new Outlook.com has been built upon our latest Office 365 infrastructure. Because the Windows Live Mail 2012 email application doesn’t support the protocols used by this new infrastructure, you will not be able to send or receive Outlook.com email from Windows Live Mail 2012 after your account is upgraded.

This means the time has come for you to upgrade to a new email application.

We recognize that changes like this can be difficult and apologize for any inconvenience this causes you. We bring a change like this only after thoughtful consideration. In this case, we are confident that you will love the benefits and performance of the new Outlook.com.

—Javier Soltero

If you use Windows Live Mail 2012 today, you need to switch to the Mail app on Windows or start using Outlook.com via a web browser before your Outlook.com account is upgraded. Upgrades for these accounts will start June 30, 2016 so it’s important to take action before this date."

https://blogs.office.com/2016/05/05/using-windows-live-mail-2012-with-outlook-com-time-to-update-your-email-application/

…the Windows Live Mail 2012 email application doesn’t support the protocols…

I don't see anything there that explicitly says that POP/IMAP/SMTP will be dropped and therefore standards-compliant clients such as Thunderbird will stop working. Just the usual hype, puff and FUD intended to scare users into the closed proprietary MS way of doing things.

But you said you want to hear from a Microsoft rep so I don't understand why you continue to push for a reply here. I'd suggest you go and pose your question on an MS Outlook support site. You don't need to mention any specific email client; just ask if POP, IMAP and SMTP will continue to be available. If the answer is "yes", you can use any suitable email client of your choice.

First of all I am not pushing for an answer here. I got my answer that TBird does not support EAS. There are several users who had the same question and I'm providing the answer I received to my question on the Microsoft Community, in case it is helpful.

You are correct that MS does not explicitly answer the question of POP and IMAP and it appears they will not. So, this info is for those who want to be apprised of the situation they may find themselves in.

If you are an Outlook.com user, maybe you should try to get and answer on the MS Community. If not, why are you responding?

This reply is to Zenos:

I'm sorry, but I had a memory lapse. I did receive an answer to my question to Microsoft specifically about POP/IMAP. My original question on this site stated that Outlook.com was dropping support of POP and IMAP. That was supported by the following FAQs post by Microsoft on 5/5/2106:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/forum/livemail-sync/windows-live-mail-2012-synchronization-with/a0b297ec-ac83-4ed7-bc8c-4bbf3da95060

If you look through that post, you'll see that WLM will still work with other mail services using POP or IMAP, but not Outlook.com.

LeoHamm said

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/forum/livemail-sync/windows-live-mail-2012-synchronization-with/a0b297ec-ac83-4ed7-bc8c-4bbf3da95060

If you look through that post, you'll see that WLM will still work with other mail services using POP or IMAP, but not Outlook.com.

No, it does NOT say that you can't use IMAP with the new Outlook.com in Thunderbird. Furthermore:

• A Microsoft Community Moderator for Windows Live Mail posted instructions for how to set up WLM to work with the new Outlook.com using IMAP in June 2015: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windowslive/wiki/livemail-email/windows-live-mail-and-outlook-mail/6edb5ba6-f9f2-40fd-80a1-fc23cc6fbfe0
• Microsoft has been converting millions of users a day and I have not yet seen any threads by Thunderbird users complaining that they can no longer connect to Outlook.com.
• I personally tested Thunderbird with the new Outlook.com and it works with IMAP.

Your posts have reached the level of a disinformation campaign. What do you have against Thunderbird?

jscher2000,

You are impossible. I have nothing against TBird or Mozilla. Just stating the facts as presented by Microsoft. I have never said TBird won't work. I don't use TBird and now, after dealing with you, I won't.

For what it's worth, I don't use Thunderbird for my main mail account, I use Outlook 2010. If you need the full functionality, it's a great choice and I wouldn't suggest otherwise. But... we disagree on the other thing. It's hard when two people both think they are right.

jscher2000,

Your patience is incredible.

user1293076,

Do you still have the box your computer came in?