Microsoft's digital photo sharing site went belly up on its first day as its servers collapsed under the weight of the traffic.

Photosynth links together a set of related photos into a presentation that allows viewers to zoom and pan across the entire scene. Microsoft was set to open Photosynth to the public late Wednesday, but on Thursday morning the working site had already been replaced by a page that displayed an apology.

Microsoft said that engineers were adding capacity and getting the full site back online. David Gedye, a group manager for Microsoft's Live Labs, admitted that his team were shaking in their boots at the thought of sticking their technology under the amount of pressure that was expected.  As it turned out they were completely right to be worried.