By any measure, end users are still using passwords that are far too simple. The Gawker Media hack from 2010, in fact, showed "123456" was the most common password in Gawker's database. Well, Microsoft's decided that if folks aren't going to pick strong passwords, at the very least Microsoft can keep them from picking the most egregious, easy passwords to hack.
Microsoft's Hotmail service will not prevent new customers from selecting passwords that are too easy to guess, such as "password" or the aforementioned "123456." Those sorts of passwords, besides being easy to guess, are particularly vulnerable to brute force or “dictionary” attacks.
In addition to preventing users from choosing a weak password when signing up for a new account, the changes will also prevent already existing users from doing the same when changing their passwords. Sometime in the future, the system may proactively force users to change their passwords, as well. The changes will be rolling out "soon."
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