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Microsoft Announces Windows Azure, Cloud-Based OS

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the do-you-feel-azure-after-use dept.

snydeq writes "Microsoft today introduced Windows Azure, its operating system for the cloud. The OS serves as the underlying foundation of the Azure Services Platform to help developers build apps that span from the cloud to the datacenter, to PCs, the Web, and phones. Cloud-based developer capabilities are combined with storage, computational, and network infrastructure services, which are hosted on servers within Microsoft's global data center network."

6 of 419 comments (clear)

  1. Microsoft becomes a ISV by HannethCom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From what they've said so far, Windows Azure is just Microsoft hosting your applications on their distributed network.

    They were touting all these "great" things, but really that's all it really is.

    --
    Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
  2. Re:Does anyone use this? by falcon5768 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    absolutely not. This means proprietary standards developed by Microsoft and given cutsie names. It ALWAYS means that.

    --

    "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

  3. Until it boots hardware... by diamondsw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...it's not an OS in my book. It may be an excellent (hmph!) network API, but it is not an operating system of any kind.

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    I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.
  4. Re:Ok by lilfields · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But when Google offers this, it's brilliant!

  5. Re:Thanks for the place holder. Windows 7 plans. by Anpheus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Windows 7 is losing core applications and replacing them with an installer to download them because doing so appeases the federal regulators who will come down -hard- on Microsoft implementing any program that could be considered, even if twenty years from now, unfair competition.

    Microsoft doesn't want the headache and says, fine, we'll take our toys and replace it with an installer that is on the users' desktop or start menu or whatever, and they can choose to use it or not. OEMs can choose to leave it in or not, etc.

    I'm OK with that, I don't use the Windows Live apps anyway.

  6. Some businesses put costs before security by Freaky+Spook · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How can you do that if your data is "in the cloud"? The SLA isn't worth the paper that it is written on if your business goes down for a week because something went wrong with "the cloud".

    Supporting small business I've seen some down right foolish and stupid decisions made on IT, placing cost over their data security.

    Most cloud services offer business access to applications and services they could not afford if they put the software on site and I see it as no different to a SMB deciding to spend 5K on a new server and ignore the extra 5K for a backup system to support it.

    Some business owners will understand the risks, and some will either not care or go for the bottom line with cost.