AAD RIP, welcome Entra ID

It's a pretty big deal that Microsoft is renaming Azure Active Directory to Microsoft Entra ID. I'll have more to say about the Entra roadmap in another post, but for right now let's ponder the importance of Microsoft abandoning the Active Directory brand for its cloud identity services. I remember well the "Active Desktop" days (consuming upstream internet services) in the 90s when Microsoft's desktop software franchise was reeling from challenges from younger Internet challengers like PointCast. Active Directory came along somewhere in the late "Windows NT" era, and it was a little confusing (in what sense are domain accounts "active"?), but with time, became the new branding normal. A full twenty plus years later, we're finally seeing this desktop/client-server brand put to bed. It seems long overdue, and a hopeful sign for Microsoft, a company with unbelievable momentum these past years. Goodbye AAD, welcome Entra ID!