The recent news about Hotmail-Comcast message blockages isn’t really all that new. It’s part of a much larger and drawn out tale. Way back in 2001, CNET’s Rachel Konrad wrote:
Inconvenienced, yet again.That was a prevailing attitude Wednesday among users of Hotmail, Microsoft’s Web-based service that boasts 84 million free e-mail accounts.
Ironically, a Microsoft spokesman could not confirm whether Wednesday’s outage that blocked access to many of the company’s Web sites, such as MSN.com and Expedia, also brought down Hotmail. The reason: Hotmail is often inaccessible.
Konrad’s observations were not unusual. Hotmail correspondents have been treated to unsteady email delivery ever since.
Have any qualms about Quality of Service? While Hotmail’s a legendary example, no free email we’ve found promises a high level of it. It’s just that some services go out of their way to deliver a predictable lack of it.
Small network managers enticed by Microsoft’s Windows Live Custom Domains service (which forces you point your domain’s MX record at the Hotmail servers) should think long and hard before committing their organizations to such questionable Quality of Service ideals.
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December 6th, 2005 at 11:18 am
JonJon
The idea of hosting my company’s email on HotMail makes me giggle.
December 12th, 2005 at 8:44 am
Big Red
Hotmail as my email server? Apparently the job description for some of Microsoft’s top-level exec positions includes the ability to keep a straight face and cross fingers behind the back while promoting Microsoft’s proven commitment to security.