The figure may not look as impressive as it could be considering the hundred of millions of Hotmail users. Then again, users had to opt in to enable SSL. Another reason was that Microsoft’s desktop email programs, Windows Live Mail and Microsoft Outlook, did not support Hotmail SSL. What that meant is that users had to make a decision. Either enable SSL in Hotmail and break compatibility with the desktop email software, or leave the SSL setting disabled to keep using the desktop email programs.

Microsoft updated SSL protection for Hotmail and other Windows Live services yesterday to give desktop email users the same level of protection than online users.

Windows Live Mail has been updated so that all traffic is now using SSL. Even better; The feature becomes available immediately after updating Windows Live Mail to the latest version. This can be done manually via the Windows Live website or automatically via Windows Update.

Outlook Connector has been updated as well so that Outlook users who have configured a Hotmail account in Outlook can use SSL as well. This is again enabled automatically without user interaction.

Microsoft has furthermore enabled SSL on a number of Windows Live websites for PC and smartphone connections. The announcement mentions hotmail.com and live.com.

Lack of SSL support was one of the most requested Windows Live Mail and Outlook features. It is good for all Windows Live users that Microsoft has added SSL support for their external desktop clients, especially so since SSL is enabled by default in the new versions. (via)

The Hotmail Sign In page, and every other Hotmail page for that matter, is now accessible via HTTPS and HTTP. Hotmail users have the option to switch completely to HTTPS whenever they access the emailing service, to continue connecting via HTTP to Hotmail or to use HTTPS for individual connections.

They have two options to enable HTTPS permanently. The first option is to open https://account.live.com/ManageSSL, the second to load hotmail by opening https://www.hotmail.com/. Both choices display a sign in form that redirects to a configuration page.

Hotmail users should take note of the information on that page, especially the following paragraph:

mportant note: Turning on HTTPS will work for Hotmail over the web, but it will cause errors if you try to access Hotmail through programs like:

Outlook Hotmail Connector
Windows Live Mail
The Windows Live application for Windows Mobile and Nokia

What does it mean? It means that connections to Hotmail via Outlook Hotmail Connector, Windows Live Mail and the Windows Live application for Windows Mobile and Nokia won’t work anymore. Hotmail users who make use of these applications should not activate HTTPS permanently. The valid option for them is to load the HTTPS sign in page but cancel the request to always enable HTTPs when connecting to Hotmail.

This way they can connect to the Hotmail web page via HTTPS and continue connecting to the Hotmail account in other applications. Additional information are available at a Windows Live Inside blog post.

That’s why several email programs have added features to automatically discover most of the settings, so that the user only needs to enter the email address and password to add an account to the client.

CodeTwo Outlook AutoConfig adds automatic configuration options to Microsoft Office Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail.

To add an email account to one of the supported email programs launch CodeTwo Outlook AutoConfig and enter the email address of the new account and the mail client you want it to be added to (those are auto detected and only selectable if installed). It is furthermore possible to add a display name, which will be shown to contacts when sending emails.

The configuration is only compatible with a set of providers they have added to their database. That’s different to how Thunderbird handles the look up of email servers. The program will inform the user if the email provider is not known, which means that the account has to be configured manually in the email client.

If the email provider is identified correctly, the email account is created. and CodeTwo Outlook AutoConfig can be closed afterwards. The new email account is shown in the selected email program. A prompt is displayed at first account usage to enter the account password. Entering that completes the account setup, which can from that moment on be used just like any other account in Outlook or Windows Mail.

There is one exception to this process. The email program has to have been opened at least once before the account creation. Users who never have opened the email program before need to open it once, ignore all the notifications and close it again, before they can make use of CodeTwo Outlook AutoConfig to add email accounts.

The portable software works well with popular email providers such as Gmail, but not at all with custom hosted solutions. CodeTwo Outlook AutoConfig is compatible with all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 98 to the latest and greatest Windows 7.

Like Microsoft, Hotmail users need to understand security concepts to keep their accounts safe. To support their users, Microsoft has created a short list of tips to protect the account. The list includes the following security tips:

• Create a strong password
• Use antivirus software
• Add security information to your account
• Don’t sign in on a computer you don’t trust
• Don’t share your password
• Check the address that appears in the address bar when you sign in

Microsoft has identified a shift in the strategy of hijackers, who in the past used newly created accounts for spamming purposes. Better recognition cut down on the effectiveness of those methods, which is why hijackers have started to target legit email accounts as well.

With today’s release, we are taking a step forward by detecting compromised email accounts, those co-owned by the legitimate user and the hijacker. We detect them with high confidence using heuristics based on login and account activity, and stop the abuse by locking the hijacker out and closing back doors they may have set up, like using vacation auto reply messages to send spam. At the same time, we begin working with the rightful owner to reclaim the account, recognizing the urgency of the issue.

Hotmail is now able to detect accounts that have been hijacked, and makes use of automatic routines to lock the hijacker out of the account, and work with the account owner to restore the account. Up until now, account owners were able to use an alternative email address that they setup or the answer to a security question to restore an account. From today on, two additional proofs are available for account recovery:

“Trusted PC” is a unique new proof that lets you link your Hotmail account with one or more of your personal computers. Then, if you ever need to regain control of your account by resetting your password, you simply need to be using your computer and we will know you are the legitimate owner.

The second new proof option is your cell phone number, where Hotmail will send a secret code via SMS that can be used to reset your password and reclaim your account.

hotmail security

Both new proofs can be configured in the Account overview window. To avoid the changing of those proofs by hijackers, changes to them users now need to access one existing proof to do so. A hijacker therefor would need access to the security answer, secondary email account, mobile phone or trusted PC to change the proofs.

Email providers like Hotmail do good to improve the security of their services, considering that they really missed out on those improvements over the past years.

Windows Live Mail users who work with the messaging program on a day to day basis might have noticed that it is not possible to minimize the program to the system tray. Clicking the minimize button in Windows Live Mail simply replaces the program window with an active icon in the Windows Taskbar.

Some users might prefer to have the software minimized in the system tray instead. This can be done with the portable software Windows Mail Minimizer.

Windows Mail Minimizer adds its icon to the Windows system tray upon startup. A right-click on the icon displays a context menu with options to hide the Windows Live Mail window which places it in the system tray. The context menu offers additional shortcuts to writing a new email and sending or receiving emails.

Windows Live Mail will still display notifications whenever new messages arrive in the mailbox.

Windows Mail Minimizer can be downloaded from the developer’s homepage. The program is compatible with most 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows.

Update: As reader Shatimi suggested it is also possible to minimize Windows Live Mail without a third party tool. All that needs to be done is to run Windows Live Mail in Windows Vista compatibility mode and right-click the system tray icon once the minimize button has been pressed to select Hide window when minimized from the menu.

Update 2: The developer website is no longer available, and it is likely that the application is no longer maintained or updated. You can use the suggestion posted above instead which should also work under Windows 7. We have uploaded the latest version of Windows Live Mail Minimizer to our servers: Windows Live Mail Minimizer (12)

Add to that support for the generic eml mail format and you got a viewer that can view pretty much any mail format that has been used by Microsoft in its mail programs. The software program will display a wizard aiding the user in locating and opening one of the mail databases.

It should be noted that the program is only able to open mail databases from the logged in user. The only other option is to open eml files which work by pasting a path into the application.

The only possible way to display the emails from another user is to export those mails into the eml format so that they can be opened with mail viewer. That’s not really practicable as it would probably be easier to import those mails directly into a portable email client.

Mail Viewer can display all email messages in detailed view including attachments with the option to save those and html preview & printing options. Selected messages can be saved to the eml format. This makes Mail Viewer interesting for users who want to export selected mails from a large Windows Live Mail or Microsoft Outlook email database.

The installer lets you choose the programs that you want to download and install. The available porgrams are Messenger Beta, Mail Beta, Toolbar Beta, Photo Gallery Beta, Family Safety Beta, Microsoft Office Outlook Connector Beta and Writer Beta.

All downloads (discovered by the Liveside website)are available in English, German, Italian, French and Spanish with more to come later this day. Each setup displays the list of programs. By default all are selected but the user can select those that he does not want to install. Once the selection has been made they can be downloaded and installed by pressing the Install button.

Joshua has posted an article about Windows Live Wave 3 previously which contains a good overview of the changes in the new version.