28 October 2008, 13:47

Microsoft to become an OpenID provider

Microsoft has announced that it will support OpenID, the open single sign on system. However, they will only act as an OpenID provider, supplying OpenID credentials to existing Windows Live users, but not accepting OpenID credentials from other suppliers. The move will see Microsoft join the ranks of companies who partially support OpenID in this way, including Yahoo and AOL. The move makes life easier for users who want to use OpenID relying services, but maintains the separation between the major portal providers who still require users to have an account on their system.

In the announcement, Microsoft points out that the initial release is in beta and that generated OpenID credentials should be regarded as temporary and not for use long term, as they will change when the system goes into production. Deployment to the production system is scheduled for some time in 2009.

(djwm)

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