I guess my description was a bit off. I did figure out how to make an AD user an admin, no problem there. What I really meant was duplicate names as different users. This is mostly an issue with mixed-mode environments, or having mutiple portals some AD-intregrated while others are not. Systems that are "entirely" AD integrated probably won't run into this issue at all.
For example:
A user from the public signs up on a DNN-only portal with the username Bob. He establishes himself as a regular user, active on the website/forums, etc... Awhile later, on another portal (AD-only), a user creates an account using the name DOMAIN\Bob. Luckily, since one is an AD account and one is a DNN account, they have different usernames, but "only" because of the domain prefix.
But, the goal we had talked about awhile back was to remove the DOMAIN\ prefix requirement, making logins much simpler, where they don't have to type the prefix every time they log in (apparently that is simply too way difficult for many of my users, but that is another story). However, if that happens, what happens to Bob? Then there will be two Bobs, but to quote one of my favorite movies, "there can be only one". Which one goes? The one whose job requires that he have a domain account, or the public user that has used that name for years?
I still think there has to be a way to restructure the user database to allow for domain information as a seperate field, but as of yet I have not figured it out. The only solution I have thought of at all is to get away from basing everything off of usernames and instead relying on the hidden userid number instead. But, that is a drastic change, requiring major core modifications.