Windows Azure provides foundation for Microsoft cloud computing

The announcement came at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, where the company also announced new Azure features, Windows Server capabilities, and offerings that, according to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft, will make it easier for developers to build "profitable businesses from their Microsoft-based solutions". Ozzie reckons we're moving into "an era of solutions that are experienced by users across PCs, phones and the web, and that are delivered from data centres we refer to as private clouds and public clouds". Windows Azure and SQL Azure, he says, have both been built specifically for this era of cloud computing. In his keynote address, Ozzie described the company's "three screens and a cloud" vision, where software experiences are seamlessly delivered across PCs, phones and TVs, all connected by cloud-based services. Underscoring his view of the IT industry's shift toward a hybrid approach of online services combined with on-premises software, Ozzie described the programming model for "a powerful new generation of applications for both businesses and consumers", enabled by new Microsoft development tools and technologies.