Upgrading to new outlook will not accept IMAP accounts

I agree. I tried using my regular email PW, that did not work, so after many attempts I called my ISP and of course they said they do not require an IMAP PW, just the PW I use for my email account. MS new Outlook requires the IMAP PW along with a user's email PW, but of course that does not work as of yet.

I don't see how. You literally can't complete an account without the password - under normal circumstances anyway. So that would be very weird if it worked without one.

That's actually not correct. All email addresses, no matter who they are with, will have a password attached to the account. You literally cannot create the account without one. So maybe this Spectrum mob are using a default password, let's hope it's not "password," or an auto generated one. If they don't give it to or say it's not necessary then that speaks volumes. They probably have zero security on their mail server. You can tell that if they said use ports 110 and 25. Both of which have globally been blacklisted for twenty years. But some Mickey mouse providers still use them - basically so they can read the contents of your emails and sell it to third party companies for profit.

I suspect this is Microsoft's objective. Have us all on their service the way they want it and that gives them access to more of our private data.

When companies get TOO big, and begin to Monopolize the customers and competition, the government is forced to step in and break up the company. Microsoft has some very talented people; of that I am very sure. But LEADERSHIP from the top is where things go wrong. Money and greed become the driving force and that is the beginning of the end. A message to Microsoft from your customers, big and small, WE are who determine your success and future, treat your customers right and you will have great success and everything else will follow.