Yesterday the WLID guys shared
some interesting stuff they learned from their OpenID CTP. CTPs are often used to get feedback from developers, validate ideas, and/or correct the course of an effort. Sometimes they are even used to prove the feature/service is economically viable. Jorgen provided an update on the future of Windows Live ID's Open ID efforts:
Currently, we do not have a schedule that I can publicly share for when we will release full Production support of OpenID for Windows Live ID users, but rest assured that we are working actively to provide OpenID functionality to all of our 500+ million Windows Live ID users!
In addition to multiple entry-points, and being able to explain unique vs. static identifiers to end users - the main challenge was aliasing:
In the CTP, Windows Live ID users were required to create an OpenID alias (such as "http://openid.live.com/john") attached to their account, and then to use that alias not just at the OpenID relying party site, but also as the way to identify themselves to the Windows Live ID OP. When arriving at the OP sign-in screen, users were required to enter their OpenID alias (instead of their normal Windows Live ID user name) plus the password (or one of their other associated credentials, such as an Information Card) from their main Windows Live ID account.
We had envisaged that using an alias for OpenID sign-in could provide some separation of the two identity networks. However, the usability model for this approach has turned out to be unfeasible and/or just plain confusing to users!
Read more about it along with the other lessons.