Ars Technica cites an “insider” in announcing that POP3 access for Hotmail users has been activated in the US. Say hello to getting Hotmail into Gmail, non-Microsoft-made mail clients, and many other places.

Microsoft has been rolling out POP3 importing access to a number of countries since mid-January, including Canada, the U.K., most of western Europe, and elsewhere. The details you need to plug into your mail client or other webmail account, though, should be the same. Here’s the list, as posted by the Windows Live team:

POP server: pop3.live.com (Port 995)

POP SSL required? Yes

User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example yourname@hotmail.com

Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live

SMTP server: smtp.live.com (Port 25)

Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)

TLS/SSL required? Yes

via Windows Live: Hotmail Enables POP3 for US Users.