Auction site eBay announced to members on its Web site Wednesday afternoon that it will drop support for Microsofts Passport and .NET Alerts by late January. Users were told that "once this takes place, the Microsoft Passport button that is currently displayed on Sign In pages will be replaced with links to a page with more information."
The announcement came with practically no warning; however, in recent months, it had become much more difficult to sign up for alerts through Microsofts .NET services as the pages to do so were buried on eBays site.
Users still wishing to receive alerts will have to sign up for eBays own mobile phone alerts or the eBay Toolbar, which will display .NET-like alerts when the users auction is about to end, is outbid, or is the winner.
In recent months, eBay has also made its service available to third-party developers through "Certified eBay Solutions."
Microsoft was disappointed with eBays decision, but vowed to continue to push its .NET framework as a better method for business-to-consumer interaction.
Check out eWEEK.coms for Microsoft and Windows news, views and analysis.
Windows & Interoperability News & Reviews 
