POP3 sucks, sorry, but it just does, so stop trying to BS users saying it’s the only way to connect.
Hotmail supports IMAP, but only as a paid service. However, they do offer DeltaSync for free, which is an IMAP-like protocol that includes contacts and calendar sync as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeltaSync
This is what Hotmail Connector uses for Outlook, and also what Windows Live Mail uses.