Microsoft began rolling out free POP3 support to Windows Live Hotmail users back in January, albeit only on a few select markets. The company had previously offered this feature by asking users to pay $19.95 a year for a premium “Hotmail Plus” account, but with other online email services such as Gmail and Yahoo allowing it free of charge, Hotmail had to follow suit eventually – and it only took them a few years.

In all fairness, Microsoft has been offering a free way for synchronizing web services with offline clients since last year using their proprietary DeltaSync protocol. Another alternative for users is to use the Windows Live Mail desktop client which has built-in support for Hotmail. Neither solution, despite having their advantages over POP3, is more commonly used and accepted than the latter protocol.

Thus, those who had still been waiting for the update to hit their country will be happy to know that it has finally rolled out to every customer. Check out the details on how to setup your email client after the break.