WIF (Windows Identity Foundation) is still relevant?

Question

Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) is around for a while, may be 5 to 7 years or more!, now Microsoft made WIF part of .net framework (4.5) itself. As we know WIF is a middleware for building identity aware applications.

As the trend on the web technology is changing, we have now need to incorporate multiple other identity providers (Google, Facebook etc.), in our application.

Now the industry got other Middleware technologies like OWIN, ASP.NET Identity etc.,

My Question,

Is still the WIF relevant and do we need to consider using it for new projects?

Or

Do we need to implement OWIN as alternative middleware? (As I understand Microsoft is betting on OWIN / KATANA moving forward).

Please share your thoughts.

Answer 1

For new projects I highly recommend considering Katana and ASP.NET 5 OWIN middleware. WIF remains supported as part of the .NET framework, however we stopped adding new features long ago - all the innovation has been poured in Katana and OWIN middleware in general. Also, we like to think that the OWIN middleware is significantly easier to use :) Again, if your project has legacy aspects that impose the use of WIF, you can go ahead knowing we'll support you: but if you have any chance of choosing, the OWIN middleware is the best path moving forward.