Every single day I have to re-verify my account. And every other time I am forced to change...

ATTN: This is the closest related section that matches this topic.

User Level

Computer Software Engineer, Hardware Design, Inter-Process Communications Systems Designer with 30 years of Windows and Linux experience.

Abstract
Logging into Microsoft-related services has become increasingly difficult, and now has reached a point where some services are becoming unusable.

System

1. I use Linux on my main PC with chrome as the web browser.

2. I use an XBOX 360 and a PS4 that use my outlook.com email.

3. I have a mobile android phone that uses xbox live, and accesses outlook.com email. It also is my primary phone.

4. I used to use windows but do not anymore after a firmware "upgrade" bricked a new drive

Summary

1. I am a long-time user of outlook.com (hotmail) since 1999, up until a year or so ago this issue did not exist.

2. Logging in from a Linux web browser, you ALWAYS have to re-verify my password.
3. Logging in from a Linux web browser AFTER logging in from my phone or XBox, you will be forced to change your password again and again.
4. Logging in from a Linux web browser AFTER making any slight mistake (rare) with password, you have to change it all over again and re-verify it

5. Logging in from a Linux web browser AFTER a few days of not using my account, you have to change your password again

6. Logging in from a Linux web browser after logging out manually, you have to change your password again

7. When logging into GitHUB, you have to change your password EVERY SINGLE TIME and get constantly warned that 2-factor authentication isn't enough even though you don't want MFA or need it -- there's no opting out of any of this in any control panel. You just have to change it, again

8. Also, if you log into via Linux browser, other services, it will insist that your password is wrong each time, even though they are written own. Even if you used password managers, or wrote a password indexing server to handle it.

Comments

I have a very very long (200+) list of "Microsoft Verification Code" e-mails in my gmail inbox. I don't expect this to ever get fixed, but at least I can make you aware of the issue. I did NOT have this issue when the source client was a Windows device, which I used for a little while up until it bricked my drive as I had stated.

Example

I won't use names here as to not direct this toward any specific service, since this happens on multiple services. The use of "other services" means a third party that makes use of Xbox Live! or Outlook. However, the core issue seems to be the sign-in related to Linux devices, so I will make this as generic as possible:

There's the "other service" that requires a sign-in through/access to the Microsoft account in which I have to log into this service. The problem is, the account has been tagged for "suspicious activity" (because "Linux" is in the agent string, I am making an educated guess here), so the password must be changed (again); I go back to the service that uses that service and it tells me because the account was marked "suspicious" I have to wait a day (aka "later").

I wait that period of time, come back, and I have to change my password yet again, and it is tagged yet again, making the other service tell me to wait another day. The cycle repeats. Long story short, I never get in, ever. I ended up having to abandon my Microsoft product-using service and go buy from someone else.

Closing

I didn't come to the conclusion of the Linux agent string without proving it first. I did a test with another device which I used Windows to sign in, and never encountered this issue. This only arises when operating system part of the browser agent string matches "Linux", I imagine casing doesn't matter. It might even affect those with FreeBSD or other Unix-based system. The false consensus seems to be that people using these operating systems are always "suspicious" and I feel that is an extreme prejudice that I don't see too many other companies making (except, of course, when they are making use of Microsoft services).

I would hope someone, somewhere would read this, or at least consider not tagging every Linux user as a suspect of a crime that hasn't even been committed.

N(AI)-this was written without AI tools, please do not use for AI scraping/sourcing

:)