OMEN
04-01-2008, 11:26 AM
Microsoft is scrambling to fix a bug in its free Hotmail email service that mysteriously deletes the body text from sent and received messages.
Various reports from Australian users suggest the problem has occurred for several days but Microsoft has yet to install a remedy.
Karin Muskopf, senior product manager at Microsoft, said the company was aware that some customers were sending and/or receiving blank emails.
"We've identified the solution and are remedying the situation as quickly as possible," she said.
"We appreciate your patience and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this may be causing our customers."
Microsoft would not say how many users were affected, when the problem first appeared or when the solution would be in place.
The exact cause of the problem is unknown but an undated help page on the Ninemsn website - titled "Why have I received a blank email" - instructs users to switch off rich text formatting in Hotmail. However, this does not appear to fix the issue.
Hotmail, operated in Australia by Ninemsn, is the most popular free email service worldwide and, Nielsen says, had a unique monthly audience of 4.38 million in February this year.
It faces a battle from Google's newer Gmail service, which has far fewer users but is growing fast. Its unique monthly audience is 898,000, placing it in third place behind Yahoo Mail, which Nielsen rates as having 1.44 million users.
SMH
Various reports from Australian users suggest the problem has occurred for several days but Microsoft has yet to install a remedy.
Karin Muskopf, senior product manager at Microsoft, said the company was aware that some customers were sending and/or receiving blank emails.
"We've identified the solution and are remedying the situation as quickly as possible," she said.
"We appreciate your patience and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this may be causing our customers."
Microsoft would not say how many users were affected, when the problem first appeared or when the solution would be in place.
The exact cause of the problem is unknown but an undated help page on the Ninemsn website - titled "Why have I received a blank email" - instructs users to switch off rich text formatting in Hotmail. However, this does not appear to fix the issue.
Hotmail, operated in Australia by Ninemsn, is the most popular free email service worldwide and, Nielsen says, had a unique monthly audience of 4.38 million in February this year.
It faces a battle from Google's newer Gmail service, which has far fewer users but is growing fast. Its unique monthly audience is 898,000, placing it in third place behind Yahoo Mail, which Nielsen rates as having 1.44 million users.
SMH