http://blog.wired.com/monkeybite s/2007/05/facebook_become.html Social networking site Facebook has just opened up its doors to the web's million-plus web application programmers.

At a San Francisco launch event Thursday, the company debuted its new application framework that lets outside developers write programs to run on Facebook's website. The company promises that third-party applications will be "treated with parity," meaning that Facebook will place minimal restrictions on development. Facebook will also let developers access its community-generated data, from News Feeds and photos to shopping wish-lists and local event information.

This goes beyond simple widgets like those on MySpace -- instead of just letting a user interact with another web service, these applications will let users interact with outside services as well as the Facebook community. It marks the transformation of Facebook from a social networking website into a broad platform that approaches an operating system's flexibility. Applications can be embedded in pages, users can pick and choose what they want to run on their profiles. As a result, everyone's Facebook experience will be as customizable as their computer's desktop.