Richards, the move demonstrates the company's commitment to data portability and giving users "a choice of how to use and control their information."  The move also follows the announcement earlier in March of a number of new and improved APIs and tools to help the developer community deliver new customer experiences.

"We outlined the priorities for the Windows Live platform, including our intent to simplify data portability while keeping users, and their data, safe and secure. We announced the beta release of the Windows Live Contacts API, which Web developers can use in production to enable their customers to transfer and share their Windows Live Contacts in a safe and secure way. Simply stated, our efforts aim to put users at the center of their online experience," Richards said.

With regard to Microsoft's commitment to data portability, Enderle says that there are clearly two competing camps inside the company. One camp is driving the actions—like this one—that are focused on infrastructure and interoperability problems as part of traditional core strengths. The other camp has been on a more proprietary path for some time.

"Right now, overall, it appears the ‘interoperability' group is winning," Enderle said.

Microsoft recently delivered an updated Windows Live suite. Click here to read more.

Richards also said that Microsoft is "merely the stewards of customer data," and that customers should be able to choose how they controlled and shared their data.

While Enderle says it is hard to believe that Microsoft would "say this, let alone believe it," he feels it is, "in fact a true statement and the that folks who are coming up in the organization currently believe it strongly. The closer Microsoft gets to creating products that will allow customers to better control and share their data, the more successful Microsoft is likely to be … they seem to be increasingly getting that now, let us hope that trend continues," Enderle said.  

Richards notes that the user relationships will have to be re-established in each social networking experience through permission from the friend or contact, so that the context of the relationship is maintained and privacy managed.

"We understand that just because people have a friend relationship with a contact on one social network, that doesn't necessarily mean that they want that same relationship on another network," he said.