Outlook Express Access for Hotmail account users

MSN Hotmail has restricted the usage of Outlook Express with Hotmail accounts contradictory to the information given in their own support site:

OLEXP: How to Configure Outlook Express to Use a Hotmail Account
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;220852

However, as per their FAQ section they have given the following reason for restricting this access:

"To protect our users from the increasing amount of unsolicited junk e-mail or spam sent from MSN HotmailSympatico Mail accounts through Outlook and Outlook Express, we have reluctantly had to restrict the new use of Outlook and Outlook Express to subscribers.

By making this feature part of a subscription, (which requires a user to provide billing information), we can more effectively manage and put a stop to abuse of this functionality, and help protect you and others from unsolicited mail.

If you purchase a subscription service such as MSN Hotmail Plus or MSN Premium, you get access to your account from Outlook or Outlook Express, along with many other added features. To see other benefits of upgrading your MSN HotmailSympatico Mail or MSNSympatico/MSN accounts or to create a new subscription account please visit our subscription information page."

We, the undersigned users of Hotmail, would like to petition MSN Hotmail to restart the functionality to configure Outlook Express/Outlook to send and receive e-mail messages from a Hotmail e-mail account. This feature was of immense utility and was invaluable to us.

We earnestly request you to restore Outlook Express access for our Hotmail accounts.