I have used Windows Live Mail 2011 for years as my email client without any problems whatsoever.  Today, out of the blue, I start getting this error message:

There was an error when attempting to connect to the Windows Live Calendar service. If the error persists, check to see if there's an upgrade of Windows Live Mail available or contact a service representative.

Does anybody have any idea what's going on and how to fix it?  If Microsoft is doing away with Windows Live Mail, what are we supposed to use now for our email?