Outage, is that an outtake?

That is the setting that Microsoft introduces to its ‘flock’. First we see that Copilot has its second outage this month (which amounts to once a week) and now we are given that ‘Xbox Network outage leaves players unable to sign in and launch games – latest’ (source: GamesHub) we are given “Reports of an Xbox outage began circulating on Friday, 12 June, with users saying their consoles were connected to the internet but unable to properly access Microsoft’s online gaming services. Some players have reported temporary network error messages, while others have said games will not launch or connect online.” Is there anyone still in doubt that physical copies are the answer? In addition we are given “The outage is likely to be especially frustrating for Game Pass subscribers and digital Xbox users, as Microsoft’s ecosystem depends heavily on Xbox Network for account sign-in, game ownership checks, cloud saves, multiplayer, and access to online features. Even players not actively trying to play multiplayer games may run into problems if Xbox services are unavailable.” And my reasoning was simply that there are three paths before we get to a Microsoft server, namely the telecom company, the internet provider and the hardline to Microsoft. The first two tend to be one and the same, but that wasn’t always the case. And I reckon that in rural places this matters a great deal more. Now, I get that this affects Game Pass and that is rough, but the setting is likely to increase when the internet gets to be swamped by people trying to play a game and it is hindered by others having business settings. It is why I always supported Net Neutrality, which implies the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must treat all data on the internet equally, without discriminating, blocking, throttling, or giving preferential “fast lanes” to certain content or platforms. But the United States has seemingly different ideas, or at least that is where they are seemingly heading under the current administration. 

As such I have been a lifelong fan of physical media and some people say that this also comes with issues (like updates), but that is a risk I will happily take. That being said, the HALO patch in 2014 was the largest ever seen (45GB), as far as I see, the damage has been limited for the largest time. And according to CNet, Microsoft has its own moments of generated laughter “The massive Microsoft Windows outage in July 2024 sparked some of the best corporate and tech-support humor the internet has ever seen. Sparked by a bad software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike rather than Microsoft itself, it stranded travelers, grounded flights, and gave millions an unexpected “international blue screen day””

We can laugh all we want and these are optionally bad moments for Microsoft, but the reality is that Microsoft over the products and versions (and systems) have done decently. We can argue (whatever we want) but the downtimes of Microsoft seems to be (by my account) rather low, so they are doing OK in that setting. Yes, I am writing about it, but consider the moon of people using Microsoft and we have three outages this month alone and I am cautiously considering that the Xbox and Copilot outage are possibly related (so our numbers are double dipping). 

As such there is a ‘Microsoft’ issue, but it should optionally be disregarded like a typo on a keyboard. And when was the last time you had a typo on your keyboard? I have them with some irritating regularity, which amounts to at least once daily. In my case my mind works a lot faster than my fingers can correct for. Microsoft might have a similar setting, but that is not for me to say. And whilst some will ‘hide’ behind ‘Microsoft Copilot Goes Down for Thousands, Downdetector Shows’ revealing an article that is less then 300 words, but it took time to reveal that you can advertise with them. Not the way I would embrace, but I don’t advertise as such. So, whilst we wait for the news that the Iranian issues are resolved, some hear President Trump say that a peace deal could come this weekend (source: ABC) whilst the BBC reports ‘Tehran says ‘nothing’ finalised after Trump claims deal to end Iran war near’, it’s been a while since politicians were less reliable than Microsoft ever was. All whilst Politico reports ‘Trump says Iran war has ended. Tehran isn’t so sure.’ So what really is happening in anyones guess. But there is always the chance that all these reporters are fixating on typo’s. Wouldn’t that be the outtake of a lifetime? Have a great day this day.