Update: Yesterday, we learned that many users across the world were having issues with Microsoft's account-based services, with customers unable to login to Xbox, Outlook, Office 365 and even Skype. At the time, we didn't have official acknowledgement from Microsoft on the wide-spread issue but today, the company finally got its affairs in order and spoke up.
While a company spokesperson didn't dish the dirt on what was causing these service outages, they did confirm to The Inquirer that “customers may have experienced difficulty signing into some services”… a useful statement I know. However, the spokesperson also added that these issues should now be resolved, so you should be free to log in to as many Microsoft services as you want without too much trouble.
Original Story: It seems that some Microsoft Account users are experiencing issues signing in this morning, affecting services like Xbox, Outlook, Office 365 and Skype. A number of complaints are being made from users across the world though so far, Microsoft has not fully acknowledged the problem, outside of an Xbox Live service status update, limiting the service to its ‘core features'.
Here in the UK I have been able to sign in to Xbox, Outlook and Skype successfully but a quick look at Twitter brings up plenty of users complaining about being unable to access a number of Microsoft services. In addition, plenty of our own readers have been messaging us in regards to these issues.
A Microsoft account is fairly essential these days as it unifies the company's entire app ecosystem. So if you are struggling with email, Skype, OneDrive, Office 365 or Xbox Live, then perhaps hang tight until Microsoft fully acknowledges the downtime and provides an update on a fix.
KitGuru Says: This particular issue doesn't seem to be affecting me at all but others do appear to be having problems. Are any of you guys having issues with Microsoft services right now?