Accessing Web-based email using a POP program

Problem
You can't just set up an ordinary email client, such as Eudora, to check and download your web-based email, such as that of Yahoo mail, or Hotmail. This is a shame because it forces you to either use a web browser to check your email (yuck) or switch to Outlook Express. Personally, I refuse to use Outlook because I find it annoying to work with, it encourages the Microsoft hegemony still further, and makes me vulnerable to many more viruses. I used Eudora Pro for years, and found it to be a great program, and switched to the open-source Thunderbird when Eudora was abandoned.
However, to check web-based email, such ordinary email programs require "POP" and "SMTP" settings, which are normally inaccessible through Hotmail, etc.

Solutions
1. Web2Pop: A small program that runs in the background and allows your mail client to hook into web mail accounts. This is shareware.
2. Hotmail Popper: Same as the above, but works only with Hotmail and it's free. This is the one I've tried. It seems to use about 3MB of memory. It really does work. You can even send email.
3. POP Peeper: A utility that runs in the taskbar and allows you to check, read, and delete POP3, Hotmail\MSN, Yahoo mail, but does not integrate with your main mail client (such as Eudora). It's free.
4. Google Mail: Google's free mail accounts allow you to check your mail via a POP client, just like an account with your ISP. It's fantastic, but you'll have to enable this option from your account first. Make sure you follow google's instructions regarding port numbers and settings to get your POP client working properly.

As far as I know, of the above solutions only Google allows you to send web-based email using your POP client. The others will only allow you to check, read, and delete it.