Or...otherwise entitled: "Is it hot(mail) in here, or is it just me ?"

All over this weekend, I haven't been able to sign in to MSN to send/read emails, and I'm wondering if it is a general down-time and other people are finding the same thing ?

I've tried various routes in: Via MSN Explorer, I get the message:
"We were not able to sign you in. There may be a problem with our service or your Internet connection. Please try again later."

Via the MSN website, I get the box for signing in to emails, then it goes through the rigmarole of "you are now entering a secret zone" (or whatever they say, you know what I mean, where it has a little padlock sign), then it comes up with "Cannot find server." From MSN homepage, I've also tried connecting to their "Technical Help" section, where you can send an email to report a problem, and that also comes up with "Cannot find server."

Not a terrific problem in the immediate term, as I can get online through Internet Explorer and have another (non-MSN) email address, but I have a work advert being printed with an MSN email address I created specifically for the purpose, and it would be a bit of a disaster if this problem persists.

I'm really hoping others of you have been finding the same problem with MSN over the past few days, and it's not just me - because otherwise I might have to go through a whole cookie-clearing process (or whatever it's called), that I really don't have a clue about. I'm on Orange (Freeserve as was)by the way. Don't know if that makes any difference.

Many thanks for any information !
Cheers,
- jeanie