RSSWindows Live ID to Replace Passport
By Ed Oswald | Published February 27, 2006, 6:56 PM
EXCLUSIVE Microsoft plans to roll its Passport authentication service into the Windows Live family of Web services by 2007, renaming it to Windows Live ID, BetaNews has learned. While the company is keeping mum on specifics, the service will make use of Microsoft's new InfoCard technology.
Sources familiar with the situation say Windows Live ID is part of up to three-dozen "Live" services currently in development. Some of these products would piggyback on top of preexisting services -- like Windows Live Local Search Free Call, which enables users to call businesses directly from search results.
Standalone offerings, meanwhile, would include products like the Windows Live Toolbar and the recently announced Windows Live Family Safety Settings.
While most of these services will not be released by April, when the core Windows Live family is said to be exiting beta, the revelation of a whole host of new Live products in the pipeline indicates Microsoft is placing a major bet on the Web services concept.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the existence of Windows Live ID to BetaNews late Monday, calling it the authentication service for Windows Live. "You may consider it a major upgrade to Passport technology," he said. According to Microsoft, Windows Live ID would play a large part in making upcoming services possible.
"We do plan for Windows Live ID to work with InfoCards in the future," he continued, although declined to say whether the feature would make it into the service's initial launch.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates provided the first clues to the existence of Windows Live ID at the RSA Conference earlier this month, when he said InfoCard was intended to replace Passport and would make password-based authentication obsolete.
With over 30 services potentially taking on the "Live" moniker, industry watchers are warning that the Redmond company risks diluting the brand like it did with the .NET concept.
"Within a matter of months [after .NET's initial release], Microsoft marketers began attaching the .Net moniker to all kinds of products, from Windows .Net Servers, to MapPoint.Net," said Mary Jo Foley, author of the Microsoft Watch newsletter. ".Net became a meaningless term that even Redmond's own couldn't explain concisely."
According to Foley, Microsoft risks the same result with Windows Live if it isn't careful. "It seems like Microsoft, its partners and its customers could benefit from some kind of clearly articulated policy as to what will and won't be considered a Live property."
The Microsoft spokesperson could not confirm public release dates or the number of Windows Live projects in development, but acknowledged, "you'll see many more new products in the coming months."
actually make that ill send an invite to messenger 8.0 BETA to the first 16 people that send me an email at kylo33710@hotmail.com
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|anyone need an invite ill send an invite for messenger live 8.0 BETA to the 1st 6 ppl that send me an email at kylo33710@hotmail.com
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|i hav like 17 invites ill invite 6 people just send me an email at kylo33710@hotmail.com
from kyle
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|I am frome China.
I can't beta..
I am Gody Yan.
http://www.gody.cn
http://www.careceo.com
http://www.mslives.cn
http://www.mslives.com.cn
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|I am Gody Yan.
http://www.gody.cn
http://www.careceo.com
http://www.mslives.cn
http://www.mslives.com.cn
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|I am Gody Yan.
http://www.gody.cn
http://www.careceo.com
http://www.mslives.cn
http://www.mslives.com.cn
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|I'm just gonna throw this out here, since it applies to Live services... I have 10 invites to the new Messenger beta. Is anyone interested?
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|I also have a few I can give away...I think I am down to 26 at the moment. If you want one, email me at invites@s92514387.onlinehome.us with an email address that WILL work with msn messenger. Last time I did this, half the people gave me email address that wouldn't work...
oh, and since I am lazy, its the first 26 that will get them.
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|i am interested. xblazox@gmail.com
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|sure why not! send me an invitation at
allmixmax[at]yahoo.com
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|GoodThings2Life -> i'd like an invite if you have any left. (chetan02@hotmail.com)
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|yeah i owuld want plzzzzzzz wlm messengeris_206@hotmail.co.uk
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|Office Live is broken right now (email is a mess) and problems have been noticed with the Passport authentication. Passport should have been scrapped long ago, and tweaking it a little while assigning a new name isn't going to help.
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|As long as they get rid of the whole your passport account is dependent on your email thing, everyone has lots of emails, everyones emails keep changing why do we need to be stuck with a passport that is attached to a 5 year old email.
Please just give us a user id number or a login name instead of it relying on our email.
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|um you do know that you can change your email addy for passport right?
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|This is a name? MS needs to go to Apple school and stop naming products so awkwardly. They do it all the time, and it's compounded by having 17 different versions of every product. Enough.
"Windows Live Local Search Free Call"
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|That sounds like a link farm result I'd see on Google.
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|Is my MSN Messenger Signing in for my Yahoo Messenger?
Drrommd@hotmail.com
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|Is my MSN Messenger Signing in on my Yahoo Messenger
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|"Live" is becoming a meaningless word also.
There's nothing "live" about it.
The .NET crap was a joke and so is "Live".
All Microsoft does is either take other people's stuff and rename it, or rename their own crappy stuff.
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|...
Windows "Passport" has gone the same way as the Windows "Channelbar".
Nobody will miss Passport, either.
...
The Computer Rodent
...
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|Channelbar??????
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|And theres PC Rat's point :P
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|God, I remember that useless piece fo crap.
What a joke.
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|It was in Windows 95 and 98. You must be a youngin.
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|It was the first thing I disabled upon setup of a PC. LOL
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|I never used the stupid service so I don't care what the change it to
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|If you never used the service, then how do you KNOW that it's stupid? Surely you aren't the type to base your opinions on someone else's feedback alone.
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|If Microspud screws this up as bad as they did when My Space and Passport profiles went "Live" no one will be able to sign into Passport.net for weeks after they implement the changes
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|A lot of the WL services are looking to be really nice, but I agree with Mary Jo Foley that the whole "Live" concept is going to wear out very quickly. These are all services that are great as a "free addon" to Windows to improve the quality of Internet use... but there's nothing that strikes me as worthy of a pay subscription outside of Windows OneCare.
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|I tend to aggree with Mary Jo Foley. If Microsoft could not quickly introduce a bunch of compeling Windows live service, the "live" concept will be perceived as over marketing, under promise.
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|Well, this is somewhat exciting, I suppose. The one thing that I want more than anything is to be able to create a new Hotmail/Windows Live email account/Passport and migrate all of the settings and profiles from my current Passport on to the new one.
And the new WL products should be exciting to hear about. I'm curious what the new WL toolbar will be like, the final WL Mail and Messenger, etc. It's looking to be a busy year for Microsoft!
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