diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 671af64c..abe1fe8c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ maintainers = [
 requires-python = ">=3.9"
 dependencies = [
     "fsspec >=2024.5.0",
-    "pathlib-abc ==0.4.3",
+    "pathlib-abc ==0.5.0",
 ]
 classifiers = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
diff --git a/upath/core.py b/upath/core.py
index 5c889ca9..3ab82c38 100644
--- a/upath/core.py
+++ b/upath/core.py
@@ -415,6 +415,9 @@ def with_segments(self, *pathsegments: JoinablePathLike) -> Self:
         )
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
+        return self.__vfspath__()
+
+    def __vfspath__(self) -> str:
         return self._chain_parser.chain(self._chain.to_list())[0]
 
     def __repr__(self) -> str:
@@ -484,12 +487,8 @@ def iterdir(self) -> Iterator[Self]:
             _, _, name = name.removesuffix(sep).rpartition(self.parser.sep)
             yield base.with_segments(str(base), name)
 
-    def __open_rb__(self, buffering: int = -1) -> BinaryIO:
-        block_size = _buffering2blocksize("wb", buffering)
-        kw = {}
-        if block_size is not None:
-            kw["block_size"] = block_size
-        return self.fs.open(self.path, mode="rb", **kw)
+    def __open_reader__(self) -> BinaryIO:
+        return self.fs.open(self.path, mode="rb")
 
     def readlink(self) -> Self:
         raise NotImplementedError
@@ -523,12 +522,8 @@ def mkdir(
             if not self.is_dir():
                 raise FileExistsError(str(self))
 
-    def __open_wb__(self, buffering: int = -1) -> BinaryIO:
-        block_size = _buffering2blocksize("wb", buffering)
-        kw = {}
-        if block_size is not None:
-            kw["block_size"] = block_size
-        return self.fs.open(self.path, mode="wb", **kw)
+    def __open_writer__(self, mode: Literal["a", "w", "x"]) -> BinaryIO:
+        return self.fs.open(self.path, mode=f"{mode}b")
 
     # --- upath overrides ---------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/upath/extensions.py b/upath/extensions.py
index 3c9cec06..d1f55dee 100644
--- a/upath/extensions.py
+++ b/upath/extensions.py
@@ -123,8 +123,8 @@ def iterdir(self) -> Iterator[Self]:
         for pth in self.__wrapped__.iterdir():
             yield self._from_upath(pth)
 
-    def __open_rb__(self, buffering: int = -1) -> BinaryIO:
-        return self.__wrapped__.__open_rb__(buffering)
+    def __open_reader__(self) -> BinaryIO:
+        return self.__wrapped__.__open_reader__()
 
     def readlink(self) -> Self:
         return self._from_upath(self.__wrapped__.readlink())
@@ -144,8 +144,8 @@ def mkdir(
     ) -> None:
         self.__wrapped__.mkdir(mode=mode, parents=parents, exist_ok=exist_ok)
 
-    def __open_wb__(self, buffering: int = -1) -> BinaryIO:
-        return self.__wrapped__.__open_wb__(buffering)
+    def __open_writer__(self, mode: Literal["a", "w", "x"]) -> BinaryIO:
+        return self.__wrapped__.__open_writer__(mode)
 
     @overload
     def open(
diff --git a/upath/types/__init__.py b/upath/types/__init__.py
index 7a18913a..b7e0bed8 100644
--- a/upath/types/__init__.py
+++ b/upath/types/__init__.py
@@ -17,13 +17,12 @@
 from typing import overload
 from typing import runtime_checkable
 
-from pathlib_abc import magic_open
-
 from upath.types._abc import JoinablePath
 from upath.types._abc import PathInfo
 from upath.types._abc import PathParser
 from upath.types._abc import ReadablePath
 from upath.types._abc import WritablePath
+from upath.types._abc import vfsopen
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     if sys.version_info > (3, 11):
@@ -110,7 +109,7 @@ def open(
         errors: str | None = None,
         newline: str | None = None,
     ) -> IO[Any]:
-        return magic_open(self, mode, buffering, encoding, errors, newline)
+        return vfsopen(self, mode, buffering, encoding, errors, newline)
 
 
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 14):
@@ -125,11 +124,10 @@ class CompatJoinablePath(Protocol):
     # not available in Python 3.9.* pathlib:
     #  - `parser`
     #  - `with_segments`
+    #  - `__vfspath__`
     #  - `full_match`
     __slots__ = ()
 
-    def __str__(self) -> str: ...
-
     @property
     def anchor(self) -> str: ...
     @property
@@ -161,8 +159,8 @@ def parents(self) -> Sequence[Self]: ...
 @runtime_checkable
 class CompatReadablePath(CompatJoinablePath, Protocol):
     # not available in Python 3.9.* pathlib:
-    #   - `__open_rb__`
     #   - `info`
+    #   - `__open_reader__`
     #   - `copy`
     #   - `copy_into`
     #   - `walk`
@@ -187,7 +185,7 @@ def readlink(self) -> Self: ...
 @runtime_checkable
 class CompatWritablePath(CompatJoinablePath, Protocol):
     # not available in Python 3.9.* pathlib:
-    #   - `__open_wb__`
+    #   - `__open_writer__`
     #   - `_copy_from`
     __slots__ = ()
 
diff --git a/upath/types/_abc.py b/upath/types/_abc.py
index 237cfcad..12cd7d5b 100644
--- a/upath/types/_abc.py
+++ b/upath/types/_abc.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 from pathlib_abc import PathParser
 from pathlib_abc import ReadablePath
 from pathlib_abc import WritablePath
+from pathlib_abc import vfsopen
+from pathlib_abc import vfspath
 
 __all__ = [
     "JoinablePath",
@@ -12,4 +14,6 @@
     "WritablePath",
     "PathInfo",
     "PathParser",
+    "vfsopen",
+    "vfspath",
 ]
diff --git a/upath/types/_abc.pyi b/upath/types/_abc.pyi
index 2788fb4c..6964b2cc 100644
--- a/upath/types/_abc.pyi
+++ b/upath/types/_abc.pyi
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@ from typing import Any
 from typing import BinaryIO
 from typing import Callable
 from typing import Iterator
+from typing import Literal
 from typing import Protocol
 from typing import Sequence
+from typing import TextIO
 from typing import TypeVar
 from typing import runtime_checkable
 
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ class JoinablePath(ABC):
     @abstractmethod
     def with_segments(self, *pathsegments: str | Self) -> Self: ...
     @abstractmethod
-    def __str__(self) -> str: ...
+    def __vfspath__(self) -> str: ...
     @property
     def anchor(self) -> str: ...
     @property
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ class ReadablePath(JoinablePath):
     @abstractmethod
     def info(self) -> PathInfo: ...
     @abstractmethod
-    def __open_rb__(self, buffering: int = ...) -> BinaryIO: ...
+    def __open_reader__(self) -> BinaryIO: ...
     def read_bytes(self) -> bytes: ...
     def read_text(
         self,
@@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ class WritablePath(JoinablePath):
     @abstractmethod
     def mkdir(self) -> None: ...
     @abstractmethod
-    def __open_wb__(self, buffering: int = ...) -> BinaryIO: ...
+    def __open_writer__(self, mode: Literal["a", "w", "x"]) -> BinaryIO: ...
     def write_bytes(self, data: bytes) -> int: ...
     def write_text(
         self,
@@ -119,3 +121,26 @@ class PathInfo(Protocol):
     def is_dir(self, *, follow_symlinks: bool = True) -> bool: ...
     def is_file(self, *, follow_symlinks: bool = True) -> bool: ...
     def is_symlink(self) -> bool: ...
+
+class SupportsOpenReader(Protocol):
+    def __open_reader__(self) -> BinaryIO: ...
+
+class SupportsOpenWriter(Protocol):
+    def __open_writer__(self, mode: Literal["a", "w", "x"]) -> BinaryIO: ...
+
+class SupportsOpenUpdater(Protocol):
+    def __open_updater__(self, mode: Literal["r+", "w+", "+r", "+w"]) -> BinaryIO: ...
+
+def vfsopen(
+    obj: SupportsOpenReader | SupportsOpenWriter | SupportsOpenUpdater,
+    mode="r",
+    buffering: int = -1,
+    encoding: str | None = None,
+    errors: str | None = None,
+    newline: str | None = None,
+) -> BinaryIO | TextIO: ...
+
+class SupportsVFSPath(Protocol):
+    def __vfspath__(self) -> str: ...
+
+def vfspath(obj: SupportsVFSPath) -> str: ...