The next generation: Microsoft “Geneva” Platform Components Beta Unveiled at PDC08

donovanf — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:11:40 GMT

It was soooo sweet to see the Microsoft code name “Geneva” Beta release unveiled at the PDC. For those that know and love the tremendous flexibility and reach that the AD FS claims-based application design approach provided, you’ll love where “Geneva” can now take you – not only in the passive case, but now with the active as well!! In this post I do not have time to enumerate all the fantastic new capabilities that “Geneva” brings for both the IT Pro and developer, that will take many posts to come, but I do want to direct you to resources where you can read about “Geneva” and get your hands on the beta.

Here’s the quick-start jump list:

All up resource page on MSDN, http://www.microsoft.com/geneva. The David Chappell and Keith Brown whitepapers highlighted on this page are a must read. David’s paper provides an overview and Keith’s drills into how to build claims-aware applications.
The Microsoft code name “Geneva” Connect site is where you can download the bits and has other resources available as well.

Here’s a couple superb “Geneva” videos from PDC – both have great demos showcasing what “Geneva” lights up:

Identity Roadmap for Software + Services by Kim Cameron and Vittorio Bertocci.
Identity: “Geneva” Server and Framework Overview by Stuart Kwan and Caleb Baker. (Note: The Microsoft code name “Zermatt” Framework has been renamed the “Geneva” Framework.)

Oh, and support for SAML 2.0… be sure to read, Microsoft “Geneva” Server Supports SAML 2.0!

Much, much more to come…

Enjoy!

Microsoft Code Name “Zermatt” developer framework beta

donovanf — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:40:00 GMT

For those that have been writing claims-aware web applications for AD FS, you have a leg up on the value the claims-based model brings to application development. You’ve already taken the step to architect your applications for cross-organization, cross-security boundary, cross-platform access. Now, with Microsoft’s recent release of the “Zermatt” beta, this claims-based model is set to enable a new generation of business applications that fully participate in the Identity Metasystem (Kim Cameron’s blog). With Zermatt you can build “Relying Party” (think “resource-side” in AD FS terms) applications, custom “Identity Providers” (think “account-side” in AD FS terms) and security token services (STS). It also provides the means to issue managed information cards (think Windows CardSpace on the Microsoft platform) to users and consume those information cards on relying party sites. Exciting stuff! That said, Zermatt in of itself is not the next version of AD FS, but it is a developer framework that enables building claims-aware applications and security token services on the Microsoft platform.

Zermatt, as a developer framework, not only supports the WS-Federation passive requestor (browser client) case as used in AD FS, but it also supports the long awaited for “active requestor” (think web services) case. So whether you’re writing an ASP.NET application or a client application that employs web services, Zermatt exposes a single object model for you to use for accessing identity and claims. The beta comes with a broad collection of sample applications categorized to demonstrate basic, intermediate and advanced scenarios. So there’s something for everyone. To help scope your investigation/discovery, here’s some suggestions.

Get Zermatt here. On the download site is a white paper by Keith Brown that is a must read and will set you up for working the sample applications.

For ongoing insights into building various application scenarios with Zermatt, follow Vittorio’s blog, Vibro.NET. Start from his Zermatt announcement and work your way forward, chronologically. Also, for those that would like an all-up understanding on the broader need for digital identities in today’s application access paradigm, I highly recommend his book, “Understanding Windows CardSpace: An Introduction to the Concepts and Challenges of Digital Identities”.

Lastly, if you don’t want to install beta bits onto your machine, here are some links to downloadable resources:

Download Virtual PC: here.
Windows Server 2008 Trial: here.

Enjoy!

From donovanf's Office : Zermatt

The next generation: Microsoft “Geneva” Platform Components Beta Unveiled at PDC08

Microsoft Code Name “Zermatt” developer framework beta