PDC

In 2005, Ray Ozzie talked about the coming Live services push and what it would mean. He sent a big memo and held an event in San Francisco. Then he set to work and got pretty darn quiet.

Sure, we got some hints along the way, especially earlier this year when Microsoft launched a preview of Live Mesh.

On Monday, Ozzie finally talked about what he's been up to. Microsoft launched Windows Azure, essentially its long-rumored Cloud OS.

In an interview after his keynote on Monday, Ozzie talked about what Azure means for developers, businesses, and even the everyman. … Read more

LOS ANGELES--With only a couple of examples shown Monday of programs running on Windows Azure, I started to wonder just how far along things are with the cloud OS.

In an interview, corporate VP Amitabh Srivastava tried to set me straight.

"Windows Azure is at an early stage," he said, "It is real, but it is at an early stage."

In addition to the BlueHoo application shown on stage, Windows Azure was used to build Microsoft's Live Mesh and is also being used to build the next generation of Live Meeting.

"Ultimately the goal … Read more

Updated October 28 to correct that security patch was released last week and security advisory was released on Monday.

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft has released a security patch for software that won't be available publicly until Tuesday at the company's Professional Developer Conference.

Microsoft will be providing attendees of PDC 2008 on Tuesday with a pre-beta version of Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista.

"A security issue has been identified that could allow an authenticated remote attacker to compromise your Microsoft Windows-based system and gain control over it," the security update says.

The more than 6,000 … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft has to do more than just convince businesses that it has the right vision with Windows Azure, its burgeoning take on cloud computing, according to Ray Ozzie, the company's chief software architect. Fundamentally, it has to get them to place a huge amount of trust in the software provider.

"Cloud computing is ultimately going to be, do you trust this provider to have more to lose than I have to lose as a company if they mess me up?" Ozzie said in an interview with CNET News here Monday at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference. … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Analysts and enthusiasts offered largely positive reaction to Microsoft's announcement of Windows Azure on Monday, impressed at the scale of Microsoft's bet on the cloud.

"I think it is very ambitious, extremely ambitious," said Gartner analyst David Smith. He noted that Microsoft is trying to span a broad range of audiences, from enterprise to consumer, and a broad range of devices.

That very ambition also means that it will take a while before Azure is ready for prime time, Smith said. Still, he was impressed at Microsoft's overall approach. "I think it's … Read more

At PDC 2008, Ray Ozzie and company on Monday morning talked up Windows Azure, Redmond's new cloud computing effort. Here's how the details unfolded in this live blog of his keynote address. Click here for a recap of the news from the event or here to see all our Professional Developers Conference coverage.

10:12 a.m. PDT: Microsoft didn't go into too many details on how it will charge for Azure, saying it will be free during the preview period. Final pricing, "will be competitive with the marketplace" Ozzie said. Keynote ending now.

9:… Read more

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft on Monday announced a version of Windows that runs over the Internet from inside Microsoft's own data centers.

Dubbed Windows Azure, it's less a replacement for the operating system that runs on one's own PC than it is an alternative for developers, intended to let them write programs that live inside Microsoft's data centers as opposed to on the servers of a given business.

"It's a transformation of our software and a transformation of our strategy," said Ray Ozzie, a computing industry pioneer who now serves as Microsoft's chief software … Read more

Microsoft has been growing its share of the Netbook segment in recent months, but it's largely on the back of the company's older Windows XP product, rather than Windows Vista.

The trend toward the small, cheap notebooks has not been lost on the software maker, however. When the topic turns to Windows 7 at the Professional Developers Conference next week, I would expect the software maker to talk about an operating system that can run well on all manner of laptops, including the ultra-low-end.

It's just one of many topics expected to come up at the conference, … Read more

In this week's EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I discuss the flailing economy. The CFOs explaining the financial results on tech company earnings calls echoed the sentiments and uncertainty of every other company and industry. As Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell stated:

We're not economic forecasters, and there is a high degree of uncertainty in outlook based on the state of the economy. As a result we've adjusted our guidance approach as follows. At the top end we're assuming a mild recession, and a relatively modest growth rate for all IT-based products. While at … Read more