Who will use Active Directory?

Network Administrators will use Active Directory to automate common administrative tasks such as adding users and groups, managing printers, and setting permissions on network resources.

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and end user developers will use Active Directory to "directory enable" their products and applications. Services can publish themselves in a directory, clients can use the directory to find the services, and both can use the directory to find and manipulate other objects of interest. Because Active Directory is independent of the underlying directory service(s), the directory enabled products and applications will operate successfully in multiple network and directory environments.

Benefits of Active Directory

Feature	Benefit
Open	Any directory provider can implement an Active Directory provider; users gain freedom of choice in directory services without sacrificing manageability.
DS Independent	Administrative applications are not tightly bound to a given vendor's directory service. The same application can work on multiple directories. Development time and support cost are reduced.
Java Support	Active Directory objects provide easy access to directory services for Java applets and programs through Java COM.
Simple Programming Model	Administrative and other directory-enabled applications can be developed with no need to understand vendor-specific directory APIs.
OLE Automation Server	Any OLE Automation Controller (for example, Visual Basic, Perl, Rexx, C/C++ and others) can be used to develop directory service applications. Administrators and developers can use the tools they already know. Productivity is enhanced; development time and support costs are reduced.
Functionally Rich	ISVs and sophisticated end users can develop serious applications using the same Active Directory model that is used for simple scripted administrative applications.
Extensible	Directory providers, ISVs, and end users can extend Active Directory with new objects and functions to add value or meet unique needs.