With POP the problem seems only to be with the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) and not the Incoming Mail Server. This didn't stop the error message though.

Mail on the iMac lets you click on Edit SMTP Server List which opens a dialogue box to select Advanced > Authentication > Password and entered username & password. Following those instructions I tried using the settings Incoming Mail Server: and Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP): This did not seem to work so I tried: : but still get the error message 'Could not connect to this SMTP'. In Help there is information on setting up apps with POP3 and SMTP. Recently I have had problems and in particular keep getting in the Mail Connection Doctor the error message 'Could not connect to this SMTP'. Up until recently I had no difficulty using the Mail application on an iMac to check my Hotmail email using POP with the settings Incoming Mail Server: and Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP):. It suits me not to use a browser to check my Hotmail. On the discussion forum there seemed to be a few 'private' responses from moderators but I am not sure why answers have not been made public. I cannot believe how many people are having variations of this problem.

Outlook mac smtp server