OpenID, similar to having a Google Accounts, Yahoo! ID or Windows Live ID, once you have logged or signed in to the respective accounts via username and password, you are able to join any services under one umbrella.
For example, you have signed in Google Account in blogger, you wish to open an account in Picasa, within the same account, Google will ask you to input any additional information required in the Picasa account, leaving the rest of the information are duplicated from the Blogger.
Using the same concept, OpenID gives users a higher security and confidence on handling which information to divulge in the services they joined.
First the user need to get himself/herself an OpenID account in any 'information provider' such as myOpenID and Verisign Personal Information Provider (PIP). The OpenID will be appear as URL such as mine, http://ootoro.myopenid.com/
Using this OpenID, users are allow to join services that supports OpenID by pasting their unique URL to the sign in column. Then, the information provider will request them to authenticates which information will be given. On a trusted site, the user could safely giving all the information in details, for a new site, maybe the user would want to give the required ones only for safety purposes. Once the permission is granted, the site would able to gain information that the user specified for the information provider to give. This is convenient for the sites the user frequently used, as he/she doesn't need to always sign-in by keying username and password, all the user need is an OpenID.
Once the user no longer trust the site or services, he/she could deny any access for the site to gain the information through the information provider. The user also has the option to cancel their account from the information provider to switch into a new one.
For more information regarding OpenID, you can go to:
http://openid.net/
http://intertwingly.net/blog/2007/01/03/OpenID-for-non-SuperUsers
So, what are you waiting for? Get yourself an OpenID now!
Quick!
~ended keying process at 11:37~
