Comparison Table: Microsoft Identity Solutions Over Time

 

🔄 Comparison Table: Microsoft Identity Solutions Over Time

Feature / Aspect Active Directory (AD) AD Federation Services (AD FS) Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Microsoft Entra ID
Launch Year 1999 2003 (with Windows Server 2003) 2013 2023 (rebrand)
Deployment On-premises On-premises Cloud-based Cloud-based
Primary Use Case Internal network identity Federated SSO for web apps Cloud identity for SaaS, hybrid users Unified cloud IAM
User Authentication Kerberos, NTLM SAML, WS-Federation OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML Same as Azure AD
Supports Cloud Apps (e.g., M365, Salesforce) ❌ No ⚠️ Limited via federation ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
SSO Capabilities ❌ Basic (on-prem only) ✅ Yes (with setup) ✅ Native ✅ Native
Multi-Factor Authentication ❌ No ⚠️ Via 3rd-party ✅ Built-in (with premium tiers) ✅ Built-in
Conditional Access ❌ No ❌ No ✅ Yes (P1/P2 licenses) ✅ Yes
External/B2B User Support ❌ No ⚠️ Complex setup ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Hybrid Identity Support ✅ Native ⚠️ via AD FS ✅ via Azure AD Connect ✅ via Azure AD Connect
Device Management ✅ via GPO ❌ No ✅ via Intune integration ✅ via Intune integration
Governance Features (PIM, Access Reviews) ❌ No ❌ No ✅ (P2 license) ✅ (P2 license)
Identity Standards Support LDAP, Kerberos SAML, WS-Fed SAML, OAuth2, OIDC Same as Azure AD
Part of Microsoft 365? ❌ No ❌ No ✅ Yes ✅ Yes
Branding Windows Server AD AD FS Azure AD Microsoft Entra ID

✅ Key Takeaways:

  • Active Directory (AD) is best for on-premises infrastructure.

  • AD FS was a bridge for early web/cloud SSO but is now largely deprecated in favor of Azure AD.

  • Azure Active Directory introduced cloud-native identity and modern authentication.

  • Microsoft Entra ID is essentially Azure AD rebranded, now positioned under a broader Microsoft Entra identity and security platform.


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