Microsoft is facing criticism after the tech giant abruptly locked LibreOffice developer Mike Kaganski’s Hotmail account. The issue occurred shortly after Kaganski emailed LibreOffice’s developer mailing list. Microsoft cited a service agreement violation but gave no specific explanation.
Kaganski tried to recover the account using the usual recommended steps, like phone verification, and even tried support forms, but ultimately ran into errors and dead ends each time. In a recent blog post, he noted that he eventually had to use another account to reach customer support, which still failed to resolve the issue.
Kaganski’s case is similar to other recent complaints, including one lodged by TechSpot earlier this year. Their attempts resulted in broken links, error messages, and a process that repeatedly halted without resolution.
Tensions between the LibreOffice community and Microsoft have been building recently. Developers have raised concerns about interoperability, including Microsoft’s move to OpenDocument 1.4 and its use of a strictly defined XML schema.
Critics say these decisions make it harder for alternatives like LibreOffice to remain compatible with Microsoft Office.
With Windows 10 support ending in October 2025 and Windows 11 excluding older hardware, LibreOffice publicly encourages users to explore other systems.