Windows Live Mail

What on Earth is Microsoft doing re email?!  Do they not test upgrades and other changes before inflicting them on their customers?  Windows Live Mail is now (suddenly) not showing me my email contacts.  Instead I get a Tasks/Errors window that says: "There was an error when attempting to connect to the Windows Live Calendar service... blah blah".  Does this have anything to do with my missing email contacts?  In an error message like this why no link to something that can help me fix the error?  Is there anyone who can help me restore my contacts list, please!  And in the "category" "topics" lists below why no mention of email?  Does Microsoft think it's impossible for anything to be wrong with it?  The fact that I have to write any of this shows abysmal customer service.