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[Power Apps] Feature capability comparison between Power Apps Maker Portal vs Classic Solution Explorer

Linn Zaw Win Profile Picture Linn Zaw Win 3,407
With the introduction of Power Platform, we can now do entity configuration for Dynamics 365/CDS in two places – within the good ol' “Classic” Solution Explorer"(<OrgName>.crm.dynamics.com/tools/solution/edit.aspx) and now within the new Power Apps Maker Portal (https://make.powerapps.com).



The Classic solution explorer has always been the place where we customise the system since the old Dynamics CRM days, and all system customisers with Dynamics background uses this up to this day. The Power Apps maker portal is where the Power Apps maker customises the Common Data Service, the model-driven apps and other Power Platform components. Since there are a lot of shared components between Power Apps and Dynamics 365, maker portal has been my preferred way to customise the system, especially with the introduction of the new WYSIWYG model-driven form designer and the new view designer for model-driven apps. I start my customisation from maker portal and only when I hit a roadblock due to the feature gap, that I click on the “Switch to classic” button to open up the Classic solution explorer and continue the task which I cannot do yet / not available yet in the maker portal.

But I still find a lot of the consultants within my circle who are reluctant to use the maker portal because of the feature gaps, and unawareness of the new features that are available in the maker portal. If the system customiser has that knowledge, the system customiser can pick up the right tool for the job – as the saying goes, “a tool is only as good as the hands that wield it”– so picking up the right tool for the right job will save you a lot of time and make your work a lot easier and faster to complete.

There is an official Microsoft documentation of feature capability comparison between Power Automate and classic workflow but I could not find one for the feature-capability comparison between Power Apps maker portal vs Classic solution explorer. So, I decided to start one up by myself and maintain it until there is such documentation available from Microsoft which will help the makers and system customisers to transition to the Power Apps maker portal.

This table summarises the comparison between Power Apps maker portal (referred to as “Modern”) and Classic solution explorer (referred to as “Classic”) capabilities.
The list is categorised into the following 5 different tables based on the nature of the capability.
  1. Solution Designer
  2. Entity Designer
  3. Field Designer
  4. Form Designer
  5. View Designer
Note: Features which are available in both designers and are redundant/(almost) deprecated features (like "Enable Business Process Flow for Entity", "Phone Express", "Reading pane in Dynamics 365 for Outlook", etc.) are not included in this list.

Solution Designer
CapabilityModernClassicComparisonRemarks
Use solution checker Yes No Use solution checker to validate the model-driven apps in Power Apps

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/use-powerapps-checker
New Feature
Manage Canvas Apps Yes No Canvas apps components can only be visible in the maker portal.

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/canvas-apps/add-app-solution
New Feature
Manage Environment Variable Yes No Environment variables are only available in the maker portal.

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/environmentvariables
New Feature
Manage Automated / Scheduled Flows Yes No In the solution designer, flows are shown as Processes with Category "Modern Flow" but those cannot be edited. The new flows cannot be created from the solution designer either, only in the maker portal. Ref: https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/solutions-in-microsoft-flow/ New Feature
Manage Custom Connectors Yes No Custom connectors are only visible in the maker portal.

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/custom-connectors/customconnectorssolutions
New Feature
Add existing AI models Yes No Distributing an AI model using the solution is only available in the maker portal.

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/ai-builder/distribute-model
New Feature
Add existing Export to Data Lake Configs Yes No Exporting CDS data to Azure Data Lake

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/exporting-cds-data-to-azure-data-lake-preview/
New Feature
Delete / Remove solution components of different types at the same time Yes No The maker portal allows to delete or remove solution components of different types at the same time, while in the solution explorer, only the same type of components be deleted or removed at the same time. New Feature
Create a new Email Template No Yes The New Email template button is not working currently in the maker portal. Feature Gap
Create a new Process No Yes There is no option to create a new Process (Action, BPF, Workflow) in the maker portal even though the existing processes can be added to the solution. Feature Gap
Add existing Application Ribbon No Yes Adding Application Ribbon to the solution is currently failing with the following error in the maker portal "Failed to add application ribbons. Subcomponent <<GUID>> cannot be added to the solution because the root component RibbonCustomization is missing." Bug
View List of Referenced Components upon Deletion Failure No Yes When a component is being deleted In the maker portal and then failed due to the dependency, the error message says "component cannot be deleted because it is referenced by x other components. For a list of referenced components, use the RetrieveDependenciesForDeleteRequest."
There is no easy option to click on the "Details" hyperlink in the error message to pop up the window of "Dependent Components Detected" list as in solution designer.
Feature Gap
View Solution Layers No Yes Solution Layers cannot be viewed in the maker portal at this stage. Feature Gap
View Subcomponents within a parent solution No Yes Once a patch is created, everything is disabled in the parent solution which makes it hard to view the sub-components of each component and there is no way to Switch to Classic solution explorer either. Feature Gap


Entity Designer
CapabilityModernClassicComparisonRemarks
Create an entity faster Yes No When using the Modern Entity Designer to create an entity, the entity will be provisioned in the background and the UI allows you to continue to make any additional customisations. This allows you to create an entity faster in comparison to the Classic entity designer which freezes the screen for a few seconds and does not allow you to continue with your work until the entity creation is completed.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/creating-new-entities-is-faster-than-ever/
New Feature
Pre-populate Plural Name Yes No When any noun (e.g. "Happy Child") is entered into the Display Name field, the Modern entity designer will pre-populate the proper Plural Display Name (e.g. "Happy Children"). New Feature
Set Primary Field Property Yes Yes In the Modern entity designer, the properties for Primary Field (other than Display and Schema Name) can only be set in the list of fields after creating an entity. Different Behaviour
Select Primary Image No Yes The Primage Image of the entity cannot be selected in the maker portal at this stage. Feature Gap
Set Entity Colour N/A Yes Theme Settings are not fully implemented in Unified Interface yet as well as the entity colour. No comparison in this area at this stage. Feature Gap
Create as Virtual Entity No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Add to Sitemap N/A Yes With the introduction of model-driven app concept, this feature is no longer required. Feature Gap
Set Auditing Settings No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Add Entity Subcomponents Yes Yes In the modern entity designer, the subcomponents can only be added by selecting the entity within the solution and it cannot be done from the entity subcomponents list view (e.g. fields, forms, views, etc.) as in solution explorer. Inferior Feature
Select Entity Subcomponents Yes Yes In the modern entity designer, only 4 columns, the Display Name, Name, Field Type, and Managed externally are shown in subcomponents selection of any type. This causes some difficulties in choosing:
- Relationships because it is harder to identify the type of relationship (1:N, N:1 or N:N), Display Name of the Other Entity
- Business Rules because the Scope and State (Activated, Deactivated) is not available
- Views because the View Type is not available
- Forms because the Form Type is not available and there can be the forms with the same name (x3 Information forms with different types)
Inferior Feature
Include fields for Add Existing Entity Yes Yes "Search fields" textbox is not working (not able to set the cursor) in the field selection for Add Existing Entity in the modern entity designer. Bug
Filter the Entity Subcomponents by Type Yes Yes In the modern entity designer, the list of subcomponents can be filtered to show Managed, Custom, Default or All items, while the solution explorer allows you to filter by All, Custom, Customizable or Mappable. Different Behaviour
Set Managed Properties of the Entity Subcomponents No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Show Dependencies of the Entity Subcomponents No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
View Field Properties in the List Yes Yes In the modern entity designer, some of the field properties are not available in the list view such as the Schema Name, Field Type - Simple/Rollup/Calculated, Field Security, Audit Status, Description. Instead, the list contains some additional components which are not in the solution explorer such as the Type - Standard/Custom, Required and Searchable. Different Behaviour
Display Primary and Related Entity in Relationship Definition Yes Yes The visual presentation of the relationship is better in the modern entity designer to identify which side is Primary (One) entity and which one is Related (Many) entity, which one is the current entity and in which entity the lookup field will be created. Improved Feature
Pre-populate Relationship Name for new Relationship Yes Yes Just as in creating a new lookup field, different entity designers pre-populate the relationship name differently when the new relationship is created.

Classic: <Prefix>_<Target Entity Logical Name>_<Current Entity Logical Name>_<Lookup Field Name without prefix>

Modern: <Prefix>_<Current Entity Schema Name without Prefix>_<Lookup Field Name without prefix>_<Target Entity Schema Name>
Different Behaviour
Set Searchable property of the Relationship No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Create Self-referential Hierarchical Relationship No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Set Lookup Field Requirement in Relationship Definition Yes Yes In the modern entity designer, the Field Requirement for the Lookup Field can only be set in the list of fields after creating a relationship. Different Behaviour
Update Navigation Pane Item for Primary Entity No Yes Show/hide or change custom label/order of the Related entity (Associated entity Navigation Pane) on the Primary entity of the relationship cannot be done in the modern entity designer. Feature Gap
Add/Remove field Mappings for the Relationship No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Delete the Business Rule No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Activate / Deactivate the Business Rule from the List No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Configure Security Roles to the Form No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Specify the Form Order No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Activate / Deactivate the Form No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Publish the Entity-specific Dashboard No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Add Required Components to the Entity-specific Dashboard No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Configure Security Roles to the Entity-specific Dashboard No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Set the Entity-specific Dashboard as Default No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Clone the Entity-specific Dashboard using "Save As" No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Export / Import Chart No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
View Status of new Key and Reactivating for failed indexing job No Yes In the Modern entity designer, there is no way to see whether the newly created key is Active or still Pending. And there is also no option to reactivate entity key for the failed job. Feature Gap
Preview Data of the entity in the system Yes No The Modern entity designer allows previewing the existing data with the Default Public View in the maker portal without opening the model-driven app.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-view-designer-for-model-driven-apps/
New Feature
Edit data in Excel Yes No The Modern entity designer allows opening entity data in Microsoft Excel to easily view and edit data by using the Microsoft Power Apps Excel Add-in.

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/data-platform-excel-addin
New Feature
Get Data using Power Query Yes No The Modern entity designer allows using Power Query to add data to an existing entity.

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/data-platform-cds-newentity-pq
New Feature
Export data to CSV Yes No One-time data export from a standard entity or custom entity to CSV can be done in the Modern entity designer.

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/data-platform-import-export#export-data-to-csv
New Feature
Export to data lake Yes No There is an option to export to Azure data lake in the Modern entity designer.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/exporting-cds-data-to-azure-data-lake-preview/
New Feature


Field Designer
CapabilityModernClassicComparisonRemarks
Create/Update fields, key, and relationships in Batch Yes No Unlike the Classic entity designer, the Modern entity designer does not immediately create/update the fields. This allows the user to quickly create/update multiple fields without waiting in-between and all changes can be pushed to the server in batch in the end. With the Modern entity designer, the data type of the attribute can be quickly changed by deleting the attribute and re-creating it with the same name.

Modern entity designer pros and cons:
Pros: Ability to discard all changes by not saving the entity
Cons: Risk of losing all pending changes if the user forget to save the entity

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/create-edit-field-portal#save-new-field
New Feature
Validate Duplicate Field Name / Relationship Yes No If the new field or relationship name is a duplicate, the Modern entity designer shows a warning about the duplicated name even before the field/relationship is saved. New Feature
Enable Field Security No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Enable Auditing No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Configure field settings for interactive experience dashboards No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Create Auto Number Field Yes No Previously this functionality was only exposed through the API, but Auto Number fields can be created in the Modern entity designer now.

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/common-data-service/autonumber-fields#create-an-autonumber-field
New Feature
Create Local Option Set No Yes Maybe this is a feature gap, but I think it is just a hint that there is no benefit of creating local option set. There is no way to create a local option set in the Modern entity designer. Feature Gap
Order Option Set Options No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Update Value of Existing Option Set Options No Yes And it is making matters worse when there is no option to Switch to Classic for Global Option Set because it is just a flyout and not a new window. Feature Gap
Set Description and for Option Set Items No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Set Colour Code for Option Set and Two Options Items No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Define External Type Name and External Value in Global Option Set No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Update the default values of a Status Reason (StatusCode) field No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Make changes to items of a Status Reason (StatusCode) field No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Order Two Options for List Control N/A Yes List Control Formatting for Two Options in the Unified Interface does not consider the order that was set in the Two Options field property. It follows the 0 (i.e. No) then 1 (i.e. Yes) sort order. Feature Gap
Create Image Data Type Attribute No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Set IME Mode for Whole Number field No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Set IME Mode for Multiple Lines of Text field No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Change Format Type of Date and Time field No Yes Somehow, Date and Time and Date Only are considered as a different Data type in Modern entity designer and the system does not allow to change it for existing Date and Time fields. Bug
Pre-populate Relationship Name for Lookup field Yes Yes Even though both entity designers populate the Relationship Name for a new Lookup field, the format is quite different:

Classic: <Prefix>_<Target Entity Logical Name>_<Current Entity Logical Name>_<Lookup Field Name without prefix>

Modern: <Prefix>_<Current Entity Schema Name without Prefix>_<Lookup Field Name without prefix>_<Target Entity Schema Name>
Different Behaviour
Set Maximum file size in File data type field Yes No Maximum file size in File data type field cannot be set in the solution explorer. New Feature
Manage Special Type Fields such as ActivityTypeCode or PartyList fields No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap


Form Designer
CapabilityModernClassicComparisonRemarks
Preview live WYSIWYG form for Unified Interface  Yes No A live WYSIWYG form preview in the modern form designer enables makers to see exactly how the form will appear to end-users.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-wysiwyg-model-driven-form-designer-public-preview/
New Feature
Visualise the hierarchy of a form’s fields and controls Yes No The tree view in the modern form designer shows the visual hierarchy of the fields and controls on the form. The icons in the tree view help makers quickly identify the types of fields and controls.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-wysiwyg-model-driven-form-designer-public-preview/
New Feature
Switch between various form factors (screen sizes) Yes No The form factor switcher in the modern form designer enables makers to preview the responsive behaviour of the form and see how their form will appear on various screen sizes. Makers can also zoom in and out of the preview using the zoom slider or click on the auto-fit button to achieve the best fit based on the available width and height.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-wysiwyg-model-driven-form-designer-public-preview/
New Feature
Search and filter in the fields list Yes No The fields list in modern form designer supports incremental search as well as the ability to filter and see only custom fields, making the task of finding and adding fields to the form fast and easy. No more browser search (Ctrl + F) as in classic form designer to find the field in a long list.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-wysiwyg-model-driven-form-designer-public-preview/
New Feature
Save and publish the form in one click Yes No In the modern form designer, save and publish is also a single combined action helping reduce the clicks for one of the most common actions.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-wysiwyg-model-driven-form-designer-public-preview/
New Feature
Undo changes to the form Yes No Changes in the modern form designer are instantly reflected in the form preview and can also be reverted using the Undo button in the command bar. New Feature
Create a new field Yes Yes When the new field is added in the classic form designer using a non-IE browser, the field is not available immediately and either the form needs to be refreshed or the New Field button needs to be clicked again to see the field.
With the modern form designer, the new field is shown up in the list immediately after being created.
Improved Feature
Drag and drop OOB Custom Controls Yes No The modern form designer allows to drag and drop limited OOB Custom Control such as Flip, Linear Gauage, Radial Knob, Business Card Reader, etc. in the form. New Feature
Configure High-density Header and Header Flyout Yes No High-density form headers and header flyout can only be configured in the modern form designer

Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/maker/model-driven-apps/form-designer-header-properties
New Feature
Visualise one column format of Unified Interface Quick Create Form Yes No Only with the modern form designer, the one-column format of Unified Interface Quick Create Form can be visualised and the classic form designer shows the three-column layout of the legacy web client.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/extend-the-power-of-wysiwyg-form-authoring-to-quick-create-and-quick-view-forms/
New Feature
Create Option Set field No Yes Option Set field cannot be created in the modern form designer at this stage. Feature Gap
Create Multi Select Option Set field No Yes Multi Select Option Set field cannot be created in the modern form designer at this stage. Feature Gap
Create Customer field No Yes Customer field cannot be created in the modern form designer at this stage. Feature Gap
Create File field No Yes File field cannot be created in the modern form designer at this stage. Feature Gap
Increase Field Height Yes Yes There is a bug in the modern form designer with increasing the field height of the multiline fields which causes the fields below to shift away to another dimension and make those fields invisible.
That issue has been fixed in make.preview.powerapps.com and hopefully, it will be rolled out soon.
Bug
Manage Subgrid Additional Options No Yes In the modern form designer, Subgrid Additional Options such as "Display Search Box", "Display Index" are not available. Feature Gap
Turn off automatic resolutions and disable MRU for the Lookup Field No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Filter Lookup Field using Related Records Filtering No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Change Field/Subgrid Width No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Change Control Formatting (e.g. Checkbox, List for Two Options Field) No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Update PCF Custom Control of the Field No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
View the Original Display Name or Schema Name of the Field No Yes Once the field label is changed, there is no way to identify which field it is because there is no way to view the original Display Name or Schema Name of the field in the modern form designer. Feature Gap
Edit the Existing Field from the Form Designer No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Manage Form Libraries (JavaScript) and Event Handlers to the Fields No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap
Create / Update Card Form No Yes Not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap


View Designer
CapabilityModernClassicComparisonRemarks
Add columns using the plus button in the canvas Yes No In the modern view designer, the columns can easily be added using the plus button in the canvas or by selecting fields in the left-hand field drawer.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-view-designer-for-model-driven-apps/
New Feature
Reorder columns and resize columns using drag-and-drop Yes No With drag-and-drop capabilities in the modern view designer, the columns can easily be reordered and resized to the perfect width.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-view-designer-for-model-driven-apps/
New Feature
Visualise the view with live preview data Yes No With the live preview in the modern view designer, the makers no longer have to save and publish to determine if the column widths are right.

Ref: https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-the-new-view-designer-for-model-driven-apps/
New Feature
Search and filter in the fields list Yes No The fields list in modern view designer supports incremental search as well as the ability to filter and see only custom fields, making the task of finding and adding fields to the view fast and easy. No more browser search (Ctrl + F) as in classic view designer to find the field in a long list. New Feature
Save and publish the view in one click Yes No In the modern view designer, save and publish is also a single combined action helping reduce the clicks for one of the most common actions. New Feature
Undo changes to the view Yes No Changes in the modern view designer are instantly reflected in the view preview and can also be reverted using the Undo button in the command bar. New Feature
Create a new field Yes No In the modern view designer, a new field can be created as in the modern form designer. New Feature
Sort by more than 2 columns Yes No The modern view designer allows sorting more than two columns which was not possible previously via the user interface in the classic form designer. New Feature
Add filters and sorting inline Yes No The modern view designer allows to add filters and sorting inline by clicking on the arrow beside each column. New Feature
Edit filters using the advanced expression builder Yes Yes For more complex filter, the advanced expression builder can be used to filter on fields which are not in the view. For example, Accounts that do not have any related child Contact records need to be shown. This can be achieved in Advanced Find with “Does not contain data” filter added in version 9.0. But system view with such filter criteria couldn't be created previously due to the limitation of classic view designer. But in advanced expression builder of the modern view designer, the makers have the ability to add any types of available clauses from the Advanced Find to the system views. Improved Feature
Configure Custom Controls for the View No Yes Configuring the Custom Controls for the View (e.g. Editable Grid, Calendar View) is not available in the maker portal, only in the solution explorer at this stage. Feature Gap

I will update the list as and when I find more updates to the Power Apps maker portal in the future.

Please leave a comment if you find any missing functionality or any frustrating behaviour with the Power Apps maker portal which is not in the list above and I will include those in the list.

This was originally posted here.

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