14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has confirmed an issue with its email service that prevented users from accessing their accounts under normal conditions. On October 8th, 2009, the Redmond company was hard at work to identify the source of a Windows Live Hotmail blackout, and to provide a resolve to end users, ensuring that their accounts became accessible again. Until the time of this article, the software giant failed to make public the source of the Windows Live Hotmail outage, or to reveal the number of users that had been affected and experienced issues accessing their email.
With the first information provided for the Windows Live Hotmail outage, Microsoft also noted that the fixes implemented by that time had ensured that some users regained access to their accounts. At the same time, additional customers were still affected by the Hotmail outage, but the company promised that the problem would be resolved shortly.
“We are aware that some customers may have experienced difficulty accessing their Windows Live Hotmail accounts today. We’re actively investigating the cause and have taken the appropriate steps to remedy the situation as quickly as possible. Access has been restored to the majority of affected Window Live customers, and we expect access to any remaining affected accounts to be restored shortly. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and disruption this may have caused you,” revealed a member of the Windows Live Hotmail team.
Microsoft is currently working on the development of the next iteration of Windows Live applications and services. As far as Hotmail is concerned, the company has already introduced features specific to the Wave 4 release, by starting to roll out the Milestone 1 development build. No official timetable was made public for the availability of Windows Live Hotmail Wave 4, but the Beta milestone is getting closer, and the final release is expected in the first half of 2010.