It seems that they chose to "enhance" it with a proprietary authentication mechanism ("X_MESSENGER_OAUTH2"): http://www.process-one.net/en/blogs/article/details_on_msns_...

Because, you know, it would be silly if you could just use any off-the-shelf XMPP client/library...

It's not an "enhancement." It uses OAuth in a completely standard way. It was done to avoid people entering their Windows Live usernames and passwords all over the place, especially now considering how much can be tied to a WL account with Win 8.

I was part of the team that did this and we went to great lengths to make sure that we were in full compliance with the relevant RFCs.

What's your take on this, hamidpalo: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/messengerconne...

I think the Facebook example provided in that post is exactly what they are trying to avoid- people entering their usernames and passwords into random chat clients. After all, you have no idea what they do with them.

And then they (Facebook) expect you to give them your mail- and other IM credentials.

At least they do have DIGEST-MD5 auth, so you can still login with most normal XMPP clients.

Bets like mine are so easy it's not even fun.