I have already asked this question but I guess I didn't phrase it correctly.  The reply was that Linked accounts have been discontinued.  THIS IS NOT A LINKED ACCOUNT.  It's simply a POP account set up exactly as the 'no more linked account' blog post suggested.  This is how my account has been set up for many years with Hotmail and windows live.  All has worked without fail until the 23rd.  If this is some form of linked account, I had no idea and Microsoft certainly wasn't exceedingly pro-active in informing customers that a basic service POP3 forwarding was being discontinued.  However, I think this service that I am attempting to utilize is still supported but something is wrong.  AGAIN, PLEASE HELP and please do not forward the link to the blog post!