Daniel Parnell has released an initial Leopard-friendly version of HTTPMail (1.50), a plugin for Mail.app that fools Hotmail and MSN web-based email accounts into downloading POP emails into Mail.

It basically does the same thing as MacFreePOPs, now also released for Leopard.

The plugin comes in a disk image with an installer and a detailed PDF on how to use it.

Daniel provides a handy list of how far the Leopard development has come:

He also outlines how to set up a Hotmail account in Mail.app using the plugin. He reminds users that older free Hotmail and MSN accounts will probably work but that newer one may need to be upgraded to Hotmail Plus .

HHTPMail is freeware and available from Daniel’s web site (but not yet from its sourceforge page ). microsoft, httpmail, hotmail, msn, plugins, mail.app, apple mail, email, leopard

Apple Mail users with webmail-based email accounts have a number of options for getting their emails into Mail.app. I had occasion to look at them again today, although mistakenly.

Frequent changes in log in procedures due to the current rapid interface development in some services breaks them from time to time.

As far as I can tell, this is the current state of play.

The easiest to use, Mail Forward, is working fine. It has just been updated (3.2.2) to accommodate Windows Live Mail beta service changes and tell you more exactly why it can’t work with Yahoo! Mail Beta accounts. It works as a a “webmail translator” that forwards your AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, and Yahoo webmail transparently into Mail.app. (I know that there are more directly ways to get your Gmail and AOL email, but this app offers to do it too).

It retrieved emails from my Yahoo! (set not to use the beta) and Hotmail test accounts today without any problems. It works, it’s easy to set up but it’s shareware (19.95 USD)

MacFreePOPs is a GUI front-end for the open source FreePOPs project. It free, works with a wider variety of services and is harder to set up.

Even with the latest version (1.6) and the latest modules for Yahoo! and Hotmail, I couldn’t get it to work for me today. A quick glance at the support forum , reveals that lots of Hotmail and Yahoo! users are having problems at the moment. The developer is working on fixes for both.

HTTPMail is a specific plugin for older Hotmail and MSN accounts. Newer accounts need to be upgraded to Hotmail Plus in order for the plugin to work. I can’t test this. It’s freeware and comes in Jaguar, Panther, Tiger and Universal Binary flavours.

Have I missed any?mail.app, apple mail, webmail, hotmail, yahoo, msn, plugins, tips

A lot of people have been waiting for this.

A new version (1.49) of httpmail, a plugin that allows you collect and your Hotmail in Mail.app, has been released which is a universal binary.

This means that you no longer have to use work-arounds like running Mail under Rosetta if you are own an Intel Mac and want to access a Hotmail account.

httpmail is freeware and is available from the project’s SourceForge page .hotmail, msn, microsoft, webmail, mail.app, apple mail, plugins, universal binary

Jussar Interactive has created an AppleScript that will retrieve messages from a Hotmail account into Mail.app.

It does this using the open source MrPostman software to drag down the mail.

Unlike some other utilities for retrieving email from web-based services, Mail to Fetch promises to work with Intel Macs.

The script is available from MacUpdate and installation instructions from the developer’s web site .

I haven’t tested this. I’d be glad to hear if it works.

UPDATE: The author has updated this script to fix a significant problem that could occur after reoot. (28 June 2006)hotmail, webmail, pop, mail.app, apple mail, applescript, plugins, Microsoft, MSN

Mail Forward is a “webmail translator” that allows you to use Mail.app to read your AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, and Yahoo webmail. It can also forward email from standard POP accounts.

It works by accessing your web mail or POP mailbox and forwarding each piece of mail through your SMTP mail server. You can manage up to 20 different accounts this way.

Mail checks can be scheduled and AppleScript support offers further options for tweaking the forwarding.

A new beta released today contains modifications to work with Hotmail service changes. It will also display a warning message if an SMTP server name that is known to be unsuitable for forwarding mail is entered in the Preferences dialog.

SMTP servers that send a multiline connection greeting are now supported.

MacFreePOPs does the same thing. It is free but harder to set up.

Mail Forward comes as a demo that will work for 30 days, after which registration will cost USD 19.95. You can get it from the developer’s web site .webmail, AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo, mail.app, apple mail, plugins

Mail Forward is an app that will forward your email from AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo! or from any POP account to Apple Mail, where you can read in greater style and comfort (see an earlier Hawk Wings post for screenshots and so forth).

An updated version released today changes the Yahoo! server login sequence for improved reliability and offers preliminary support for Hotmail/MSN Windows Live Mail beta accounts.

Mail Forward is shareware (USD 19.95) and is available from the developer’s web site .AOL, gmail, hotmail, MSN, yahoo, POP, mail.app, apple mail, Windows Live Mail, plugin

In a move that may surprise many doom-sayers (like me) who fret about Google, Gmail and privacy, the search engine company has refused a request from the US Department of Justice for information about the search habits of Google users.

It’s important to recognise that the DoJ only asked for “de-identified” data, aggregated statistics that cannot be linked to individual users. Yahoo!, MSN and AOL all happily complied with the request.

But Google refused, partly because it fears turning the information over will create the public perception that Google doesn’t protect the privacy of its users.

Leslie Walker at the Washington Post has written a very interesting article in response on what exactly Google does know about individual users. Or you could browse the 934 hits on the story at Google News.

In further Google-realated privacy news, Gmail has introduced a more visible delete button. This gives users the impression that they can delete emails from the Gmail system.

Certainly the button removes the messages from the web interface, but whether it really means that they have gone, or whether they lurk around in Google’s massive data collection system is another matter. Gmail’s privacy statement is not clear about that.

Whoops, there I go again….