Microsost's Windows Azure finally ready for customers

Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud computing service was generally available on Monday with very little flourish. And it could be because this first wave gifts Azure is frankly a bit odd.

I'm sure Microsoft will finally figure out how to give users the options that are clearly attractive (perhaps using Amazon Web Services and models), but in the near term the options are not as clear as they could be.

It is however positive for enthusiasts Azure cloud that has finally reached the point where Microsoft is comfortable offering it commercially. And if you are part of the Azure team, you'll be glad to have any solid magnifica tion only what auctions are.

In many ways, Microsoft is to apply the same enterprise architecture principles to the cloud - with price parameters for consumption, storage, and even integration with other applications. This may not really be wrong with time, but it forces developers and users think about the use of cloud things they have no experience.

I suspect that this method is because the operating system-centric view that Microsoft takes of pretty much all technology. After all, do they call it cloud operating system, and it looks like up above image stacks, leaving users not to think about the OS. Again, not necessarily wrong, but the foundation has not yet been explained or marketed well enough to see results.

This approach is in contrast to the AWS EC2 or Rack Space, as Om Malik notes, suggests that in comparison with "infrastructure-as-a-service providers such as Amazon and Ec2 or Rack Space Cloud Servers with their products, Azure attempts to work better in the actual management and provisioning of virtual machines for users.

I doubt highly that Azure will have a significant impact on near term Microsoft or even medium term earnings (either positive or negative). It is important to Azure has set a stake in the ground for Microsoft to be part of enterprise cloud discussions and access Azure to developers masses that provide invaluable testing and feedback.

Cloud computing generally requires Microsoft to be part of the ecosystem. And while I'm not convinced Azure is anywhere near right yet, Microsoft has enough resources to put to the effort. Let's hope it does.