Microsoft very recently gave customers a few days to make major changes to users choice of preferred method of email. They announced:
Update your sign-in technology before September 16th, 2024 to maintain email access.
MS stated:
You will need to upgrade your third-party mail and calendar app to a version which supports modern authentication methods.
MS doesn’t describe what process they’ll be using once we switch over from SMTP or iMap. Plus I could not find te details, so I provide it in the MS DETAILS below ⤦
MS DETAILS
Click to view details
The safety and security of your information is top priority for Microsoft. To help keep your account secure, Microsoft will no longer support the use of third-party email and calendar apps which ask you to sign in with only your Microsoft Account username and password. To keep you safe you will need to use a mail or calendar app which supports Microsoft’s modern authentication methods. If you do not act, your third-party email apps will no longer be able to access your Outlook.com, Hotmail or Live.com email address on September 16th.
What do you need to do?
If you are receiving this email, you are currently using an email or calendar app that uses a less secure authentication method to connect to your Outlook.com email account. You will need to upgrade your third-party mail and calendar app to a version which supports modern authentication methods.
Microsoft provides free versions of Outlook for your PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices which can be easily downloaded and connect to your email account. Using an updated version of an Outlook application will ensure you are connecting in the most secure way.
How can you set up your Gmail, Apple Mail, or other third-party mail application?
Various non-Microsoft applications will have their own steps for connecting to your Outlook.com email account using modern authentication methods. See our help article - Modern Authentication Methods now needed to continue syncing Outlook Email in non-Microsoft email apps. However, you may need to contact the creators of those applications to provide you with instructions. In many cases, simply removing and re-adding your account with the latest version of that application will configure it to use modern authentication methods.
QUESTION:
How does this affect Geary and/or those using Thunderbird on a PureOS desktop and L5 (if Tbird will go in to the L5?
This isn’t a problem if using Thunderbird. Microsoft actually made this warning announcement ages ago (more than a year ago?) and at that time I reconfigured Thunderbird to use OAuth2 and it did actually work. I use it (unfortunately) every day and lots. So, yeah, it at least can work.
Is it as simple and straightforward as a plaintext password? Nope.
Is this an unwelcome change that will be a hassle for you? Yep.
So, anyway, make sure that you are up to date with the version of Thunderbird that you have and just change the Authentication Method to OAuth2 in the account settings for the particular email account.
I admit that it was a long time ago that I did this. So I don’t remember all the details. There’s some weird sh%t web page that gets launched as a one-off part of the process of getting set up. So I guess it would be wise to have an up to date browser as well.
Aside: This is a current day propaganda word (in this case used by Microsoft).
For clarity, I would of course never use anything Microsoft but I have to use it on my desktop / laptop because my employer uses Microsoft as the email service provider.
I chose not to configure that particular email account on my Librem 5. So I have no idea whether OAuth2 works with Microsoft when using Geary.
Needless to say, don’t do that if the mail client is accessing incoming (received) email via POP. Only do that if the mail client is accessing incoming (received) email via IMAP.
I can see that I have also reconfigured SMTP in Thunderbird - for outgoing (sent) email - to use OAuth2 but I remember even less about that in terms of whether I had difficulties but, again, I think it does actually work.
The first MS notice I noticed was 3 or 4 days ago. Out of the 34 email addresses I manage, 1 is @live.com (MS). And that is rarely used.
As for Tbird, I’ve been using email client long before Google was a gleam in Alphabets eyes.
I’m lucky, in a way because my Windoze box runs Win 7. Why? Because I don’tneed anything higher. Too, most attacks target 10 and 11 now.
Unwelcomed? Everything from ‘them’ is unwelcomed. Hanssel?- a bit. I installed Tbird on my Linux box for 2 other linux OSs’, and PureOS.
As for L5, well, one could just use a browser and do the Webmail - for one small account - meh. I’m sure
I won’t be moving any others to a web-mail arena.
I could not find a Tbird for L5.
I just set up a email test account on my mail server. I’ll try Geary via Lookout - I mean Outlook with L5 tomorrow - just to see.
I rarely use iMap. I feel large tech wants to have our pictures, email and documents in their ‘cloud’ to start with. After that, they’ll have most people addicted or better word ‘assimilated’ and very hard to get away from.
OK, I assumed that you are running Linux. My post should be read in that context. I certainly have no idea what the change to OAuth2 looks like from a Windows operating system.
Ditto. For the same reason. There are use cases where it works far better to use IMAP, or where there is no choice. For anything else, I would like my email to be stored under my control (and by definition then I have to take responsibility for backup).
But am testing it with a dummy address…