Sun Microsystems and Microsoft have joined up to develop
a single sign-on system for users.
Both companies had previously touted their own single sign-on
systems to allow users to access any authorised application or
network over the web.
Sun had promoted its Liberty system and Microsoft promoted its
own Passport solution. But neither solution has seen much take-up
by users.
However, both companies have now agreed to develop a single
sign-on based on Sun’s Liberty standard and widely supported WS-Web
service architectures.
The joint decision comes out of the 10-year technical
collaboration agreement the companies signed last spring, which
also saw Microsoft pay Sun almost $2bn (£1.08bn) to settle an
anti-trust case and patent disputes between the suppliers.
Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer said, "In the
first year, we've moved from the courtroom to the computer lab. Now
we're moving from the lab to the market."
Sun chief executive officer Scott McNealy said, “A single
sign-on experience between the Solaris-based operating system, Sun
Java Enterprise System and Microsoft Windows Server has been
customers' top request. This is just the beginning of a long list
of projects we're working on.”
The companies have published two draft specifications: the Web
Single Sign-On Metadata Exchange (Web SSO MEX) protocol and Web
Single Sign-On Interoperability Profile (Web SSO Interop
Profile).
The new specifications enable browser-based web single sign-on
between security domains that use Liberty ID-FF and WS-Federation
standards. Products that support the Web SSO MEX protocol and the
Web SSO Interop Profile will enable companies to provide users with
an improved single sign-on from their web browsers.
The companies will support the new specifications within their
products, including Microsoft Windows Server and Sun Java
Enterprise System.
The pair have invited third-party participation in the further
development of the draft specifications, and plan to submit the
final specs to a standards body, yet to be selected.
The first products supported by the single sign-on
specifications are not expected until next year at the
earliest.