Upfront full disclosure: I am not a Hotmail user. However, Hotmail users who also take advantage of Microsoft Outlook might want to grab the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector. This tool allows you to access and control your Hotmail data directly from Outlook 2003/2007:

With Microsoft Office Outlook Connector, you can use Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to access and manage your Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail or Microsoft Office Live Mail accounts, including e-mail messages, contacts and calendars for free!

This goes above and beyond the capabilities of POP and IMAP as you are able to control your contacts and calendar, which can be extremely useful.

So if you are a user of both, give this tool a try.