14 DAY TRIAL // Tech giant Microsoft has just announced that Outlook.com now comes with IMAP support, even though the email service “already supports the industry’s best email connectivity with Exchange ActiveSync.”
The company, however, explains that EAS is missing on some devices and apps, including Mac Mail and Thunderbird on Mac, so IMAP support could come in very handy to many users.
“While we believe that EAS is the most robust protocol for connecting to your email, with syncing in near real time, and superior battery and network efficiency, there are still some devices and apps that haven't made the upgrade to EAS. As an older protocol, IMAP is widely supported on feature phones and other email clients such as those on a Mac. We heard your feedback loud and clear that this was important,” the company noted.
“In addition to offering more complete device connectivity, IMAP (along with OAuth) gives developers opportunities to build third-party clients and services that offer value-added scenarios on top of your Outlook.com email. We are excited to launch the first set of services today that integrate with Outlook.com, and look forward to sharing many more in the future.”
Just like it usually does when it launches new features for its services, Microsoft has also announced several add-ons working with Outlook.com’s IMAP support, including TripIt and Sift, both of which are supposed to improve your travel and shopping experience, respectively.
In case you’re trying to configure your devices to work with Outlook.com’s IMAP support, here are the official settings you need to use:
Incoming IMAP
Server: imap-mail.outlook.com Server port: 993 Encryption: SSL
Outgoing SMTP
Server: smtp-mail.outlook.com Server port: 587 Encryption: TLS
If you’re already using newer devices or software solutions such as Windows Phones, iPhones, Android phones or tablets, the Windows 8 Mail app or Outlook 2013, you won’t need to switch to IMAP, as they all support EAS already.