Microsoft bungles Hotmail update

No surprises there then

Microsoft made a big deal of its upcoming attempts to beef up the security of its Hotmail service in a major update scheduled for this summer.

Now that the update has rolled around, the outfit's support forums have begun creaking under the weight of user complaints, with many finding they are unable to access their accounts or that, when they do, they can't send emails or sometimes even view what is written there.

We happened to have an elderly, somewhat unloved Hotmail account kicking about and went to have a look. This is what we found:

Microsoft said it is "aware that some customers are experiencing issues with the latest upgrade to Windows Live Hotmail".

It says the High Contrast display mode in Windows might have something to do with the fact that some users can't send mail. You'd think they should know...

It also thinks older browsers may be to blame, casting a glance at Firefox 2.5 and Safari 3.

It reckons the new Hotmail should support IE6 and above but sagely suggests that if you're having "issues" you might like to switch the Google's Chrome, no less.

"Some customers have indicated they're able to access their account on Google Chrome even if other browsers do not work," a Vole writes.

Oh dear.