Problems with the gadget functionality of Microsoft's mail applications have extended well into their third week.

A mail widget component of Microsoft Live web services portfolio has been unavailable since 20 February, and there's little sign of an imminent fix.

In a statement posted on the Live.com blog, Microsoft's development team explains: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, checking your mail with the mail gadget will be temporarily unavailable. This has nothing to do with our recent release (and is not specific to Live.com), but is a technical issue that the Mail team is actively working on. We know many of you rely on this functionality, and we'll be looking to get it working for you as soon as possible."

Responses to the posting reveal growing agitation among some, with one switching to Gmail, even as others berate critics for their impatience.

Although not a core component of the Live web services stable, the weeks-long inavailability of the mail mini-application is nonetheless embarrassing for Microsoft, since widgets were sold as among the key benefits of switching to Vista. ®