Hotmail, Outlook, SkyDrive hit by service disruptions

Users complain of hours-long inaccessibility of Hotmail, which Microsoft plans to blend with Outlook later this summer.

 

A handful of Microsoft Web services have been inaccessible for hours this afternoon, including Hotmail and Outlook.
Frustrated users of the e-mail services and cloud storage service SkyDrive complain about the services' hours-long inaccessibility.
Microsoft's services status dashboard confirms that the three services are not functioning properly but says it is working to restore service. It is unknown whether the disruptions are related or whether they may be connected to Microsoft's plan to shutter Hotmail and move the "hundreds of millions" still using it to Outlook.com by this summer.
This is the second time in recent months that Hotmail and Outlook users have been unable to access the services. iPhone, iPad, and Android phone users were disconnected from their accounts for several days in January.
CNET has contacted Microsoft for more information and will update this report when we learn more.

Microsoft's online services dashboard.