Hotmail, Messenger suffer outages and quirks
Both Hotmail and Messenger have suffered as-yet-unexplained outages and other service problems. To make things worse, many users were greeted with an error message which wrongly claimed they would need to create a new account.
The problems began on Tuesday when Messenger users began receiving an instant message from the firm reading:
Important service announcement: As part of a recent system enhancement, we need you to change your e-mail address to continue signing in to the Windows Live(TM) Messenger Service. To ensure that your access is not blocked and to learn more, go to http://support.microsoft.com/gp/Messenger/en.
Naturally many users will have assumed that it was either a phishing attempt, or some form of scam related to the much-publicized Conficker virus. However, it was in fact a genuine message from Microsoft, though the link actually took users to a page for Office Live Communications Server 2005.
Microsoft has now noted the message is among its templates for use in an emergency and was sent out by mistake. It says users should not have been able to change the email address attached to their account by following the link.
A similar problem struck Hotmail last night, with users attempting to access their e-mails getting a message telling them they did not have an inbox and inviting them to create a new account. Microsoft says the problem lasted for around 90 minutes and assures users that all inboxes, messages and contact lists are intact. However, some sites are reporting readers are still having some problems or quirks today.
To send out one incorrect message to service users is unfortunate. To send out two in the same week is careless. To send out two in the same week when a major virus is in the news is pretty much a customer relations disaster.
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