Am I using IMAP, or Exchange?

Mail
1

At one time, I got nailed by Microsoft dropping EWS (Exchange Web Services) for my freebie Hotmail account. I had to delete the account in eM Client, and create a new one as an IMAP account; however, eM Client lists using IMAP, SMTP, and AirSync for my Hotmail account.

I suspect AirSync is for calendar and contacts sync to server instead of using CalDAV and CardDAV. AirSync is the old name for EAS (Exchange ActiveSync). Currently it looks like my Hotmail account in eM Client is a frankenjob setup: an IMAP account, but has AirSync enabled which hints it is still using Exchange for something. So, which is it: an IMAP account, an EAS account, or a hybrid account in eM Client?

I also have Outlook installed as part of Office 2021 Pro Plus. My Hotmail account in it shows as an Exchange account. Do Microsoft e-mail apps have some secret access or identifier that grants them Exchange access? The same Hotmail account is defined in both eM Client and Outlook 2021.

“Microsoft to start retiring Exchange Web Services in October 2026”

Wasn’t EWS (Exchange Web Services) what eM Client uses, or used to use? Is the expected death of EWS why I ended up with a hybrid IMAP + EAS/AirSync setup for my Hotmail account defined in eM Client?

AirSync arrived in 2002, got renamed to EAS 1.0, and was the predecessor to EAS 2.0. Why is eM Client still using the two decade old obsolete name?

2

For Hotmail, you are using IMAP, not Exchange, to sync message folders with the server as Microsoft no longer allow personal Hotmail accounts to connect using Exchange. Your calendars and contacts sync using AirSync. Because of the issues Microsoft have with oAuth on SMTP, we no longer use SMTP to send messages for MS accounts, but instead use AirSync as well.

For hosted accounts that use Exchange, from next year Microsoft will start phasing out EWS (Exchange Web Services). It will be replaced by the Graph API.

3

Because of the issues Microsoft have with oAuth on SMTP, we no longer use SMTP to send messages for MS accounts, but instead use AirSync as well.

Under the account definition for my Hotmail account in eM Client, all protocols are selected: IMAP, AirSync, and SMTP. However, you’re saying the check mark for SMTP is bogus, and AirSync is actually used. For giggles, what happens if I go into the account definition to disable the AirSync option? I didn’t test that since I might not be able to undo that action, and have to recreate my Hotmail account again.

Switching away from SMTP w/OAUTH2 to AirSync might explain why I experience, and others have noted, outgoing messages sometimes hang in the Outbox folder (under Local Folders). I’ll see a red triangle next the Hotmail account, and no number of retries gets the Outbox message sent. I have to copy the body of the old message sitting in Outbox, delete the old message in Outbox, and compose a new message by pasting the into the body of the new message. In Outlook (part of Office 2021 Pro Plus), I don’t get outgoing messages hung in the Outbox.

Since I have a free Hotmail account, I suspect my account around October 2026 won’t qualify for Graph API support. It is a free account, not a [paid] hosted account. Maybe it would be a hosted account if I paid for Microsoft’s 365 subscription, but I hate subscriptionware, and also paying for a workaround.

Is Microsoft going to continue supporting AirSync (the old/first name for Exchange ActiveSync) on free/personal/non-hosted accounts? What if they also drop AirSync/EAS on non-hosted accounts? If they drop AirSync/EAS on non-hosted accounts, and since SMTP OAUTH2 apparently no longer works, everyone would lose the ability to send e-mails from their Hotmail/Live/Outlook.com accounts. No AirSync, and no working SMTP.

Almost seems Microsoft is trying to figure out how to force using Microsoft clients, or pay for hosted/365 accounts.

4

You won’t be able to send messages from that account, nor sync calendars or contacts.

It is not currently used for MS accounts.