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Microsoft's Cloud Services Platform to Launch Jan 1

Ryan Whitwam — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:37:41 -0600

Microsoft’s Professional Developer Conference (PDC) began today, and right off the bat we have some solid information about an impending release. Windows Azure will be available to businesses on January 1, 2010. It will be free for the first month as well.

Windows Azure will be an operating system in the cloud. An applications layer will be hosted in a datacenter and developers will be able to write applications for it like they would for any other OS. The cloud service landscape has changed significantly since the Redmond giant started talking about the cloud-based web some four years ago.

The number of netbooks and smartphones has exploded since Microsoft began this endeavor. These platforms may benefit most from technologies like Azure. Can Microsoft make cloud-based services a part of their core business with Azure? Maybe we’ll get some clues during the rest of PDC.

It's Never Too Early for Windows 8 Rumors

Ryan Whitwam — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:54:02 -0500

Even though Windows 7 just went to manufacturing in July, there are already rumors about Windows 8. Microsoft’s Anders Vindberg confirmed that planning sessions were already being held for Windows 8, and 12 different working groups had been created. Most of these groups are currently management related.

Some recent job postings have hinted that Microsoft will be implementing a new “TLZ file compression engine” to improve Hibernate performance. So if you crave a quicker resume after Hibernating, you could get your wish. There may also be additional kernel protections using PatchGuard. These protections should increasingly hamper the efforts of malware designers.

Microsoft will almost surely be strengthening their server offerings in the next OS iteration. Microsoft’s Dublin application is likely to find its way into Windows Server. Some sort of cloud based services are also possible with the upcoming Windows Azure. We most likely won’t see Windows 8 until 2011 at least, but the Redmond giant may already be hard at work.

Microsoft Azure Shut Out Users Over Weekend - Should We Expect This from Cloud Computing?

Mark Edward Soper — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:05:33 -0500

The promise of hosted application "cloud computing" platforms is the ability to work anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the latest storm to obscure the promise of hosted applications hit its Windows Azure development platform last weekend. It was unavailable for 22 hours on March 13 and 14, eWeek reports.

It should be noted that Windows Azure, introduced at last October's Professional Developer's Conference (PDC), is still in its test phase. It's due to become generally available before the 2009 PDC in November, according to eWeek. Although it's still in testing, an essentially day-long outage isn't good news for Azure.

However, as we have pointed out here and here in reference to past Gmail and Google Apps outages, cloud computing in general is vulnerable to service disruption. Charles King, an analyst from PUND-IT Research quoted by eWeek, had this to say about the balance between cloud computing availability and price, referring to Amazon's hosted application platform:

At one point during the briefing, they [Amazon] said they’d guarantee 99.99 percent availability. Their comment was they believed a significant population of businesses didn’t want to pay the price for five-nines [99.999] capability.

So, how about it, developers and users? If you're currently using cloud computing apps and services, have you been significantly affected by service disruptions? Would you pay more for less downtime? If you're not on the cloud, how big a deal is the possibility of service disruptions to you? Hit Comment and sound off.

Windows Azure logo courtesy of Code-Inside.de.

Microsoft Looks for Blue Skies Ahead with its Azure Cloud Computing Platform

Mark Edward Soper — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:49:54 -0500

It was called "Project Red Dog" during development, but this week Microsoft revealed its favorite color for its cloud computing development platform is actually blue - Azure, in fact.

Windows Azure Services Platform was introduced at this week's PDC, and includes the following key components, according to eWeek:

Windows Azure (service hosting, management, low-level scalable storage, computation and networking)
Microsoft SQL Services (databases and reporting)
Microsoft .NET Services (.NET Framework workflow, access control, and so forth)
Live Services (file and media synchronization between PCs, phones, apps and website)
Microsoft SharePoint Services and CRN Services (business content, collaboration, and rapid solution development)

Applications developed using the Azure platform can be tested offline, and can be deployed locally or to the cloud, thanks to the incorporation of existing Microsoft technologies. Azure will first be made available through Microsoft data centers. Developers can use HTTP or other common Internet standards to access Azure services. Learn more at Microsoft's Azure Services Platform website.

What's the appeal of Azure for Microsoft - and developers? According to the Information Week blog, Azure offers scalable pay as you go services. It might not be "The End of Software?" as Information Week wonders, but Azure is the latest sign that services, not shrinkwrapped packages of Microsoft whatever, may be the wave of the future for profitability in Redmond - and for maximum flexibility in uncertain times for developers.

With Amazon.com already in the game, Windows Azure is playing catch up. Will the sky remain the intense "October blue" of azure for Redmond, or will its vision of cloud computing be clouded over by the competition? Developers, you can register for the Community Technology Preview to find out for yourself (and your company). But, whether you're a developer or a user, feel free to click the Comments button to tell us what you think about Windows Azure and cloud computing.