Customer Momentum

Since the commercial availability of Windows Azure was announced earlier this ye
ar, Microsoft has seen strong growth with close to 20,000 applications to date.
Demonstrating its RenderMan application during the keynote address, Pixar Animat
ion Studios showed how it intends to use Windows Azure to more efficiently manag
e compute cycles by scaling as needed, helping improve project performance and e
liminate costly back-end infrastructure.
NVoicePay, a key technology partner of Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP), is
using Windows Azure and SQL Azure to provide medium-sized companies with the abi
lity to pay invoices electronically and via a desktop PC or a mobile device.
“Building a mission-critical B2B payment network would have been nearly impossible
without the low-cost, pay-as-you-go access of the Windows Azure platform,” said K
arla Friede, chief executive officer of NVoicePay. “We could not have built our ne
twork at this speed and cost without it.”
Microsoft also highlighted that over 70 partners — including Twitter, Facebook, an
d Amazon.com — representing more than two-thirds of active Web traffic are buildin
g on the capabilities in Internet Explorer 9 and HTML5. Since the launch of Inte
rnet Explorer 9 beta in September, there have been more than 10 million download
s, making it the fastest-adopted version of an Internet Explorer beta ever. The
company also highlighted a growing list of companies that are betting on Windows
Phone 7, including PopCap Games Inc., Intuit Inc., Amazon.com and Facebook. Fur
ther, Microsoft announced that the Windows Phone Marketplace will launch with mo
re than 1,000 quality games and applications that extend the unique user interfa
ce and functionality of Windows Phone 7. The Windows Phone Marketplace will be o
pen for application submission on Nov. 3.
The Most Comprehensive Operating System for Platform as a Service: Windows Azure
With the capabilities in Windows Azure, Muglia showed how developers can apply t
heir existing skills to build new types of business applications, consumer Web a
pplications and commercial ISV offerings.
“Only Windows Azure delivers general-purpose PaaS, which gives developers the brea
dth of services needed to allow them to focus on their applications and not the
underlying infrastructure or virtualizing machines,” Muglia said. “Imagine having al
l of the IT infrastructure, hardware, OS and tools you need to support an app ju
st a few mouse clicks away — it opens up so many possibilities for developers worl
dwide. We are looking forward to seeing the amazing things our customers will bu
ild on our PaaS offering.”
The On-Ramp to PaaS: Moving Applications to the Cloud
For existing applications, one option for customers is to move workloads to the
cloud, using virtual machines to help lower traditional cost and management burd
ens. Today Muglia announced two new Microsoft capabilities for Windows Azure to
enable customers to get on the path to platform as a service (PaaS): Windows Azu
re Virtual Machine Role and Server Application Virtualization. Windows Azure Vir
tual Machine Role gives customers the ability to run an instance of Windows Serv
er 2008 R2 running in Microsoft’s cloud, making it easier for developers to move a
pplications to the cloud. Server Application Virtualization gives developers the
ability to transfer application images to Windows Azure, harnessing the underly
ing management capabilities of the platform.
Enhancing and Transforming Applications in the Cloud
Microsoft announced a number of Windows Azure services that also help developers
 create rich cloud applications that open up new business opportunities. To enab
le this, Microsoft introduced the Windows Azure AppFabric Composition Model to s
peed the process of assembling services by providing critical application deploy
ment and management capabilities. To better connect developers to customers, Mic
rosoft announced the Windows Azure Marketplace including the new DataMarket (for
merly “Project Dallas”), offering premium and public demographic, financial, mapping
, and entertainment data and other content. Commercially available today, the ma
rketplace features more than 35 providers currently offering data subscriptions.

Windows Azure scales to projects and businesses both large and small, including
mobile applications that require an easier and lower-cost means to experiment an
d build prototypes. As part of Windows Azure enhancements unveiled today, Micros
oft made available the Extra Small Windows Azure Instance that eases the process
of development, testing and trial. Priced at $0.05 per compute hour, this new o
ffering lowers the barrier to entry for developers who want to run smaller appli
cations on Windows Azure.
Complete information about the Windows Azure road map announced at PDC, includin
g new features and capabilities, can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/pressp
ass/presskits/cloud/docs/MSPDCFS.docx.
Delivering Cloud Connected Device Experiences With Windows 7, Internet Explorer
9 and Windows Phone 7
Ultimately, a primary role of the cloud is to deliver the best end-user experien
ces that span multiple devices, form factors and screens, regardless of whether
people are at work, at home or at play. Microsoft gives developers the ability t
o treat both cloud and client applications as first-class citizens and deliver g
reat device experiences that love the cloud. The rapid adoption of Windows 7 and
Internet Explorer 9 creates new opportunities for Windows developers, especiall
y considering that Web browsing is the No. 1 activity people do on Windows 7. Th
e opportunity for developers to build applications for Windows has never been gr
eater. Windows 7 topped 240 million licenses in its first year, and developers w
ill drive a wave of new Windows applications that span different platforms throu
gh HTML and JavaScript, and run on cloud platforms such as Windows Azure.
At the PDC, Microsoft underscored its continued commitment to HTML5 and showed h
ow developers can fuse the full hardware acceleration and site-centric design in
Internet Explorer 9 to tap into the power of PC hardware, transforming their we
bsites to feel more like native Windows applications. As part of the ongoing com
mitment to standards and “same mark-up” on Internet Explorer 9, the company also ann
ounced the availability of Windows Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview 6, avail
able for download today at http://www.IETestDrive.com.
The increasing power and accessibility of rich devices, combined with the ease o
f application development on Windows Phone 7, has driven more than half a millio
n downloads of the free Windows Phone Developer Tools to date. Many of the same
skills, languages and tools used to develop cloud applications on Windows Azure
have come to Windows Phone for apps and games.
Extending the PDC Globally
Developers tuning into the PDC online and at PDC events around the world will ha
ve access to over 100 hours of live and on-demand technical sessions and Channel
9 interviews, covering Microsoft technologies such as Windows Azure, Windows Ph
one 7, SharePoint, Internet Explorer 9 and Visual Studio as well as industry lan
guages and technologies such as PHP and HTML5. PDC keynote addresses and technic
al sessions can be accessed at http://www.microsoftpdc.com.