It's a real plus to be able to collect your Hotmail, Yahoo! or other Webmail using your POP3 email client. It used to be simple, but these days most Webmail services only provide POP3 access for premium paid accounts. However, it's still possible to do this by using a special utility designed for the job.
If you use Yahoo! mail then head straight for YPOPs! This allows you to download your Yahoo webmail from within a POP3 email client such as Outlook, Thunderbird or Eudora. It's free, easy to set up using the instructions on the web site, and is simple to use. If you use it on multiple Yahoo accounts and it will works wonderfully.
The second suggestion is a utility called FreePOPs. It's a much more flexible product than YPOPs! and will download mail from HotMail, AOL, Yahoo!, Juno, Libero and a myriad of other webmail services. Its power and flexibility can confuse new users, but thankfully there is a clearly written tutorial for beginners. FreePOPS is for receiving email only and has no sending capabilities.
A third possibility is MrPostman which offers similar functionality to FreePOPs and allows access to email accounts on MS Exchange 5.5 as well. It needs a bit of fiddling to work correctly, but this link will help. My only reservation is that product development seems to have ceased. Note that MrPostman requires the Java Runtime Environment to be installed on your PC.
Another webmail accessory you might find useful is POP Peeper, a free utility that lets you know when new mail arrived in your Webmail account. It installs a little tray icon that alerts you to new mail in your Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo, Mail.com, MyWay, Excite, Lycos.com, or RediffMail accounts. It's particularly useful for users who have multiple webmail services. It won't though, download your mail to your POP3 email client. To do that you need one of the products above. It does however, allow you to read and even respond to your mail within the product without opening your email program. This makes it very attractive to Webmail users who don't use a regular email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird.
Product Details
YPOPs!
Website: http://ypopsemail.com/
Download link: http://ypopsemail.com/download/36-releases/66-download
Author: Anuj Seth
Version: 0.9.5.1
Date: Unknown
Download file size: 1.48 MB
License: Freeware (GPL)
Operating systems supported: Windows (but unofficial versions are available for Unix and Linux and others)
64 Bit version available: No
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
Other relevant information: Support forum. Detailed configuration documentation available from site
Tutorial: http://www.freepops.org/en/tutorial/index.shtml
FreePOPs
Website: http://www.freepops.org/en/
Download link: http://www.freepops.org/en/download.shtml
Author: FreePOPs - see also here: http://www.freepops.org/en/about.shtml
Version: 0.2.6
Date: Unknown
Download file size: 1.17 MB
License: Freeware (GNU)
Operating systems supported: Windows, GNU/Linux and others, Mac OS X, BeOS
64 Bit version available: No, but this 32 bit program works in a 64 bit environment
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: Italian, Spanish, French
Additional software required: No
Other relevant information: Support forum. Detailed configuration documentation available from site
MrPostman
Website: http://mrpostman.sourceforge.net/
Download link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=68124
Author: Azureus
Version: 1.2.4
Date: 06/01/2006
Download file size: 1.5 MB
License: Freeware (GNU)
Operating systems supported: Any PC that supports Java
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: Unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
Support forum: http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=68124
POP Peeper
Website: http://www.poppeeper.com/
Download link: http://www.poppeeper.com/download.php
Author: Pop Peeper
Version: 3.2.0
Date: 03/11/2008
Download file size: 998 KB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows including Vista
64 Bit version available: Unknown
Portable version available: Yes
Other languages supported: Many - see here: http://www.poppeeper.com/languages.php
Additional software required: No