I have had an Hotmail account since 1997 (i.e. don't ask me to switch) and I recently switched to a Mac and I am looking for a Mac client that would deliver the same functionality as Windows Live Mail did in my PC.

The Mail.app only supports POP3 for Hotmail which I hate - I am looking for either IMAP/DeltaSync/Exchange for my Hotmail to work in Mac. I tried Postbox/Sparrow Lite/Thunderbird with webmail plugin/Eudora and none worked. I tried mbox for Mac and it worked for about 2 weeks and now it stopped working with the new Mail.app update. I looked at IzyMail but I am not willing to pay a subscription - I don't mind paying a one time fee though.

I know Hotmail has IMAP/Exchange support because it works on my iPhone and I don't know what the Windows Live Mail used but that worked too.

I am really confused - I just want a mail client that syncs with Hotmail (I am not looking for POP3 clients which are 1-way) and I am willing to pay for it and I just can't find such a software! I am also willing to pay a one-time fee for an IMAP gateway too and I can't find any such thing either.

Is it really that hard to get Hotmail working in Mac?

Does the Outlook in Office 2011 do DeltaSync for Hotmail? If yes, I am willing to shell out the $ 250 for it.