I'm not familiar with this feature of Hotmail. Does your browser need to be running and logged in to Hotmail on your desktop computer (or laptop) to send the alerts to your phone? Or is it supposed to happen automatically on Microsoft's servers?

I believe it happened automatically i.e. even if the computer was powered off. If the cell phone was on, there would be an audible alert and a text message showing the e-mail itself. If the cell phone was off, it would store the alert as an unread text message. This feature is activated from any Hotmail screen by selecting Options/More options/Reading email/Mobile alerts for new messages. There was even the option of limiting the Alerts to certain Senders addresses. All this is referred to this as changing SMS settings. It worked on Explorer and doesn't work on Foxfire :O(

Since that service originates from the Hotmail servers, I can't think of any reason for it to stop working when you start using Firefox. If you think it would help, you can go into IE's Internet Options, Applications tab, and make IE your default browser again. But I suspect there might be a problem at Microsoft (or Verizon) completely unrelated to your browser..

New twist to my problem... In searching Microsoft Answers for a possible fix, I found a notice from the Windows Live Team posted on April 13, 2013 saying that the Live Alerts feature of Hotmail was being DISCONTINUED as of May 31, 2013 ...as an update to the service !!! Since I had restricted my alerts to a single sender (not many emails) I guess it was just a coincidence that I FIRST noticed the absence of audible notification shortly after my change to Foxfire on the 6th of June. In any case, making a SIGNIFICANT change in service, which was INVISIBLE to users unless they stumbled across it as I did AND having the gall to call it an UPDATE is ONE HELL OF A WAY TO RUN A RAILROAD!!! Thanks jscher2000 for your time and interest. Microsoft could sure use some people like you on its pathetic Windows Live Team. Bah humbug !