Reaching for the Clouds

In a significant move, Microsoft announced its software services strategy in

this years Professional Developers Conference. Ray Ozzie, chief software

architect at Microsoft, talked about the companys ability to bring new apps

meeting the challenges of the enterprise computing landscape. He attributed that

the companys core strength lies in bringing new applications. In his keynote

address Ozzie talked of concepts like cloud computing, virtualization and how

those are changing the face of enterprise computing. In a major development he

unveiled Windows Azure (a cloud-based operating system) officiallythe newest

platform from the companys stable.

Aimed at the developers, the Azure platform is a collection of offerings like

.Net, Dynamics CRM, SQL Server, SharePoint and Live Services. Ozzie described

Azure as a platform that integrates cloud-based developer capabilities with the

necessary ecosystems like storage, computational and networking infrastructure

service, all hosted on the servers operating system within the Microsoft global

data center network. The interesting thing about Azure is that it is

platform-based; hence this brings in a high degree of flexibility and agility to

developers in creating numerous solutions. Also, they can bank on various open

source development tools and technologies. On the new platform, developers can

take advantage of key components of Azure like Live Services for users to store,

share and synchronize documents like pictures, files and information across

their PCs, phones, PC based applications and web sites.

Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie promises an Azure future for cloud camputing

According to Ozzie, The Azure launch is a turning point for the Microsoft

developer community. It is game changing set of technologies that will bring in

new opportunities to both business and Web developers. The Azure Service

Platform promises to transforms the way businesses operate and how consumers

access their information and access the Web.

Azure Demystified



According to company sources the Azure Services Platform is an

Internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which

provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used

individually or together.

Azure is touted as a platform that will reduce the need for up-front

technology purchases, and enable developers to quickly and easily create

applications.

Windows 7



While riding on the innovative GUI features in Vista, Windows 7 promises to

offer richer user experience, convergence, synchronization and security

features. Ray Ozzie, while announcing the pre-beta release of Windows 7 said,

We are bringing the best of the Web to Windows. From PC to the Web to the phone

and from the server to the cloud, we are focused on enabling the creation of the

next generation of user experiences that change the way we live, work and play.

Shrikanth G



shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in