Windows Live Messenger outage - oh my!

MSN-Display-Picture-Dialog Some of Microsoft’s Web-based and IM services were rendered inoperable yesterday, forcing many office workers and friends to (horror of horrors) pick up the phone and talk to one another.

The company’s Hotmail Web-based e-mail, Xbox Live and its Live Messenger instant messaging service were down for much of the day though service seemed to have been restored by the end of business earlier today.

Apparently, the outage affected users worldwide though no numbers were given.

I realized how dependent I am on the Live Messenger, which seems to go through a name change every 18 months or so, as a communications tool to chat with my colleagues, family and friends. Hotmail, er, Windows Live Mail, not so much. It is officially a spam repository for yours truly. The dependency on Messenger became apparent after I felt my blood pressure rise upon not being able to sign in after the eighth try this morning.

(Check out the hilarious link made by Dow Jones reporters between the outage and Microsoft’s US$45-billion bid for Yahoo.)

No specific reason was given for the outage.

Here’s the company’s statement:

Earlier today, an issue began that has caused some consumers worldwide to experience difficulty logging in to their Windows Live ID accounts. This issue has since been resolved and normal operations have been restored to all customers.
Microsoft customers experienced issues accessing various services that rely on Windows Live ID for authentication including Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger and Xbox Live. We worked to identify the issue and have restored full normal operation to all of our customers. There is no danger of data loss or data compromise. It is important to note that the security and privacy of our customers was at no time compromised as a result of this issue.

February 27, 2008 | Filed Under News Items and Commentary 

Comments

One Response to “Windows Live Messenger outage - oh my!”

  1. » Another knock against Hotmail, er, Windows Live Mail Kevin Restivo’s Tech Blog: Thoughts on the Wireless and Consumer Markets on February 29th, 2008 2:38 am

    […] the outage began early Wednesday morning. Making the situation even more comical is of course Microsoft which had said the problem was fixed. The company issued yet another statement on the topic this […]

Leave a Reply