Sometimes it is nice to have a local copy of your email in an email client, so today I am configuring Evolution in Ubuntu 10.4 to connect to my Hotmail account.

First click the envelope icon at the top of the screen and then select Set Up Mail from the drop down menu.

The Evolution Setup Assistant will open – click the Forward button to continue. We are not restoring from a previous backup so click Forwardagain.

On the Identity window enter your full name and email address and click Forward.

Configure the Receiving Email screen as pictured below and then clickForward:

On th
e next page of the wizard I checked the boxes to Check for new messages every ten minutes and to Leave messages on server – you can configure this screen however it suits you best. Click Forward.

Configure the Sending Email screen as pictured below and then clickForward:

Note: Use smtp.live.com:587 if port 25 does not work (as per Ed’s response in the Comments below).

On the Account Management screen simply provide a name by which you would like to refer to this email account, such as “Personal” for example, then click Forward.

Click Apply to finish the wizard and Evolution will open and prompt you for your Hotmail / Live email password. Enter your password and leave the Remember this password box checked (unless you want to enter your password each time you open Evolution).

That’s it – Evolution will now download your email from Windows Live!