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Microsoft Releases Free Preview of Its Quantum Development Kit (zdnet.com)

Microsoft is releasing a free preview version of its Quantum Development Kit. "The kit includes the Q# programming language and compiler and a local quantum computing simulator, and is fully integrated with Visual Studio," reports ZDNet. "There's also an Azure-based simulator that allows developers to simulate more than 40 logical qubits of computing power, plus documentation libraries, and sample programs, officials said in their December 11 announcement." From the report: Quantum computers are designed to process in parallel, thus enabling new types of applications across a variety of workloads. They are designed to harness the physics of subatomic particles to provide a different way to store data and solve problems compared to conventional computers, as my ZDNet colleague Tony Baer explains. The result is that quantum computers could solve certain high-performance-computing problems more efficiently. Microsoft officials have said applications that developers create for use with the quantum simulator ultimately will work on a quantum computer, which Microsoft is in the process of developing. Microsoft's goal is to build out a full quantum computing system, including both the quantum computing hardware and the related full software stack.

31 comments

  1. Old news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been using it for years.

    1. Re:Old news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quantum computing with Microsoft: Now you can process spyware, direct desktop advertising, forced buggy patches and forced reboots all in parallel!

    2. Re:Old news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Their qubit may also be modernized and simplified to have only one state. After all, the users need simplification and clarity over functionality.

    3. Re: Old news. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is Microsoft, not Apple.

    4. Re:Old news. by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      Yeah, as I've said before commenting on similar articles, Microsoft software has been based on quantum mechanics for as long as I can remember. Users of Microsoft software are constantly struggling with the uncertainty principle and can often make systems collapse merely by observing them.

  2. solve certain high-performance-computing problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    like... how to get MS Edge to actually function?

  3. Are we going to see... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..the Q screen of death?

    1. Re:Are we going to see... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 3, Funny

      Are we going to see...the Q screen of death?

      Yes and no.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    2. Re:Are we going to see... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      When it stops replying to pings on the network it will be in a state of both crashed and not crashed until you look at the monitor.

  4. Can it go back in time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so Roy Moore never signs those yearbooks and cards? If only he hadn't, he could yet still fuck 14 yo girls and no one would prove it. The Bama way, my friends. After all, who wouldn't want their 14 yo daughters to get fucked by a lawyer!

  5. Why would he do that? He's spawned a new Anthem! by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 1
  6. Re:Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My portfolio is up about $200,000 since he won the election. Hard to argue with results. I didn't vote for him but I will in 2020.

  7. Finally! by Matt.Battey · · Score: 1

    Now, I can finally write that killer app for my quantum transportation entanglement FTL! I've literally had this thing for ages, but the app store is empty, and before this there was no way to side load anything better than cat pictures.

    1. Re: Finally! by zaphirplane · · Score: 1

      I know, with all my Q# side projects the recruiters looking for people with 5+ years of q hash-box, are falling over themselves offering me jobs

    2. Re:Finally! by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

      anything better than cat pictures

      You mean like this one (site is in German)?

      --
      Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  8. Umm, No. by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

    Visual Studio is connected and sending telemetry these days. The last thing I want to do is devote my time to designing something bleeding-edge in it only to have Microsoft to patent the thing first.

  9. Re:Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yep. He's the best. I'm very wealthy now he is in office.

  10. Quantum AI ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some guy that knows little about quantum and AI... asked the question:

    "Could this lead to quantum AI/Super AI ?!"

    Wow... a bit scary thought... done by a noob ! Haha... sometimes noobs usefull ! :)

    They apperently filter out the details... and see the big picture ! LOL.

  11. Re:Donald Trump by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    He's the best president since Regan, IMHO.

    Donald Regan was chief of staff, never president.

  12. Re:Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I agree with this. Stocks going up, taxes going down. Not much to complain about from my perspective.

  13. Re:Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do you keep replying to yourself?

  14. Re:Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good job comrade!

    Comrade trump and comrade putin will let you suck their cocks later!

  15. Meanwhile... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can they implement the full C++17 standard? Nope.

    C99 and C11 support in their C compiler? Nope.

    Tooling for cppwinrt? Nope.

    Are they deprecating C++/CX? Who knows, man. Who knows.

    XAML design surface fully working in Visual Studio for SDK release 16299? Nope.

  16. Re: Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The market going up, and your portfolio with it, is all from the momentum from the Obama policies. We'll get to see whether Trump's policies work in another couple years. Big economies take time to change.

  17. There are myriads of Open Source alternatives by quax · · Score: 1

    Most of them integrated with Python so that you can use them in Jupyter. Many of them are included in this free AMI distro.

    And unlike MS the IBM, Rigetti and D-Wave tools let you connect to real quantum computing hardware.

    1. Re:There are myriads of Open Source alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      can you point me to some "real" quantum computing hardware

      thanks in advance

  18. Re: Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In your dreams... The Only thing that obama did was increase taxes... start a few wars like any other president... and increased communism....

  19. Re: Donald Trump by zaphirplane · · Score: 1

    What you talking about willis

  20. Re: Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And brought out of the great recession that W put us in by reducing regulations on financial institutions.

  21. Re: Donald Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And brought out of the great recession that W put us in by reducing regulations on financial institutions.

    Glass-Steagall was removed before W took office, hate W but at least get the correct figure-head when whining about legislation.
    The correct one in this case would be "Slick" William Jefferson Clinton.