Feature Request: Multiple Authentication Methods

I’ve seen a few plugins for WP that allow users to use logins such as Facebook, Google and others, but most are hacks. (No offense, plugin writers.)

What I would like to see in WP (perhaps in version 3.0) is a totally re-written authentication system which would allow WP administrators to drop in authentication methods as easily as a simple plugin. (Okay, Facebook Connect will require an app, but you know what I mean.) In this way, WP administrators could reach out to a wide base of readers and let those users log in to the site they’re reading using one of the logins they already use on popular websites.

Here are the authentication methods I would like to see available as simple options in WordPress:

• Google
• WordPress.com
• Facebook Connect (would require admin to set up a FB app)
• LiveJournal (OpenID)
• Yahoo (OpenID?)
• AOL Instant Messenger (OpenID)
• Vox/TypePad
• simple login (like the current method; if user has none of these)

Yes, it’s kind of like Movable Type’s login system (only with a lot less ugly SEO-friendly garbage…ZING!), but in this day and age, when people have lots of web services that they use regularly, why not design WP to let people use those everyday logins on more sites? (I know *I* hate remembering a lot of accounts.)