Why my personal hotmail account is Miscrosoft Exchange account type in Windows 7 Outlook 2016

Question

I just found my personal Hotmail account’s type is Microsoft Exchange. Is that because I have taken my laptop to my previous company? If that is the case, why it is still working? I have left that company and stayed at home for years. I also reinstalled and updated my Outlook application after left the company. Should I delete that account from the Win7 Outlook 2016 application and then add it back again with IMAP/SMTP type? Any difference between those two types?

microsoft outlook windows 7

LPChip · Answer

Microsoft uses Exchange Server for hotmail.com addresses now. It will automatically create new mailboxes on their exchange servers if you create a new hotmail.com account. They still do allow setting up mail accounts through IMAP, but by default, autodiscover will find that it can connect through Exchange Server, which is always preferred over IMAP if available.
Outlook.com accounts are also on Exchange Servers now, so if you were to remove those accounts and add them again, they will also be added using the Exchange protocol.
As for IMAP vs Exchange, Always Exchange if possible. It is far more robust with many more features such as calendar, contacts, etc. Only if you really have a reason to use IMAP should you go back to this legacy format.

Why my personal hotmail account is Miscrosoft Exchange account type in Windows 7 Outlook 2016

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