said by Ratos :I know they only support POP3 but anybody have a workaround .... ie: maybe gmail or any other solutions?
You can use any IMAP service that will poll the account - such as Gmail - if you want IMAP. Keep in mind that whatever you choose will likely download all of your Optimum messages into whatever you decide to go with - where it will then be IMAP.
I personally use Fastmail -- I pay for the professional version.. Their paid offerings allow IMAP and such.