You can start to use the Windows Live™ ID authentication service today, both on your Web site and in your client applications. To try it out now or just to find out more, read on!
A Quick Overview
Windows Live ID is the identity and authentication system provided by Windows Live. Currently, more than 380 million users have credentials that work with Windows Live ID. And now, Microsoft offers three software development kits (SDKs) that make it possible for developers like you to use this powerful service.
By creating Web sites and applications that combine user authentication with other Windows Live services, you can offer your users new and unique online experiences that include the following:
- Rich functionality that is possible only when an authenticated user moves seamlessly among multiple Windows Live services
- True “anytime, anywhere” scenarios for Web-based applications
- Deep, computer-independent personalization
- Smooth transfer of the user’s authenticated state between client-based and Web-based applications
Ready to Get Going?
Look at all you can do with Windows Live ID!
- Go to the Windows Live ID Web Authentication SDK on MSDN® and find out how to implement Windows Live ID on your own Web site. Then visit the Web Authentication download page, which offers sample applications in six different programming languages.
- Learn how to put your users' Windows Live data to work for them—with their permission, of course! It's all in the Windows Live ID Delegated Authentication SDK for Application Providers. In addition, the Delegated Authentication download page delivers sample applications in the same variety of programming languages that you get with Web Authentication.
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Check out the Windows Live ID Client SDK—the way to make your client applications "identity aware." The Client Authentication download page provides all the components you need and includes a sample application to get you started.
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Watch a video featuring Lynn Ayres, lead program manager on the Windows Live ID team. Lynn explains what Windows Live ID is and how easy it is to implement. She also does a couple of demos of Web and client authentication and even walks you through the code!
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Read the
Introduction to Windows Live ID article to learn about the overall Microsoft strategy for authentication and identity management and the role that Windows Live ID plays in that strategy. You can also find information about certain individual features in the Windows Live ID Articles section on MSDN.
- Follow the Windows Live ID blog for more information and announcements about Windows Live ID technology as it develops.
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Join the discussion on the Windows Live ID forum where you can share your discoveries, ask questions, and find out what other developers are thinking about this technology.
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Learn about the other Windows Live services available to you by digging into dev.live.com.
More About Web Authentication
With the Windows Live ID Web Authentication SDK (version 1.1), you can use the Windows Live ID service to verify the identity of visitors to your Web site. This means that you can offer personalized access to your site’s content to any of the millions of registered Windows Live ID users. Windows Live ID gives you a unique, site-specific identifier for each Windows Live user who signs in to your site. You can use this identifier to display personalized content, manage user access to your site's resources, and perform other tasks on behalf of the authenticated user.
Web Authentication also lets you incorporate Windows Live controls into your site. Windows Live ID performs sign-in and account management functions so that you don't have to worry about how to implement these details. (Windows Live ID profile data is not shared with your site.)
The Windows Live ID Web Authentication SDK includes QuickStart sample applications (available on the download page) that implement Web Authentication in ASP.NET, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby programming languages, and on both Windows and non-Windows platforms. Choose the one that fits your Web site best!
More About Delegated Authentication
You can use the Windows Live ID Delegated Authentication SDK for Application Providers (version 1.0) to develop an application that acts on behalf of Windows Live ID users and offers them personalized access to their content stored on other Windows Live services and sites.
Delegated Authentication works by sending your users to the Windows Live ID consent page, where they can grant or deny permission for your site to access their data or content on Windows Live services (called resource providers). After a Windows Live ID user has granted consent, your site can interact with the resource provider on behalf of that user. Sign-in and consent-management functions are performed by the Windows Live ID service, so you don't have to worry about implementing these details. For more information about this new feature, see Understanding Delegated Authentication.
Included with this software development kit (SDK) are sample applications that implement Delegated Authentication in the ASP.NET, Java, Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby programming languages. You can get the sample applications for this SDK from the Delegated Authentication download page on Microsoft.com.
More About Client Authentication
The Windows Live ID Client SDK (version 1.0) enables you to create a new class of identity-aware client applications—applications that understand authentication state and can share it with other client and Web applications. This functionality gives users a richer, smoother online experience than has been possible in the past.
The Client 1.0 SDK includes software components (available on the download page) that run on the user’s computer together with your own application. Your application calls the Windows Live ID Client 1.0 SDK, which efficiently manages interactions with the Windows Live ID service and lets you concentrate on the rest of your code.
Welcome to Windows Live ID!