ADFS 2.0 Released, CardSpace on Hold

Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) 2.0, previously code-named Geneva Server, was released in May 2010. ADFS enables exchange of user identity data between Active Directory and other directory systems, for single sign-on access to resources and for other purposes. ADFS 2.0 is the first version to support the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0 protocols for claims exchange, which are also implemented in identity management technologies from other companies and are already used by a variety of organizations, such as agencies participating in the U.S. government e-authentication project. Adoption of the technology will help Microsoft and its partners compete for such projects. As Microsoft pushes its vision of cloud computing, ADFS 2.0 may also help the company compete with secure authentication now provided by other cloud providers, such as Amazon, Google, and Salesforce.com.

CardSpace 2.0, Microsoft’s implementation of an identity selector that enables users to select and manage information cards used to authenticate them to systems, was put on hold in May 2010 and Microsoft has not announced a release date. In the meantime, the company released a Community Technology Preview of an add-on to ADFS 2.0 that enables Windows Server to issue information cards that are compatible with CardSpace 1.0.