Meet the new Windows Azure

This afternoon 6/7, ScottGu announced an extensive set of new Windows Azure features. There are 3 main previews now available – Windows Azure Media Services, Virtual Machines and Windows Azure Websites. You can sign up for these features @ https://account.windowsazure.com/PreviewFeatures and experience the new management portal @ https://manage.windowsazure.com

Try it out – would love to hear the experiences.

Highlights of announcements from today

· Windows Azure Virtual Machines enable the moving of workloads on virtual hard disks (VHDs) between on-premises environments and the cloud.  Windows Azure supports both Windows and Linux VHD images, which can be customized or chosen from a pre-populated gallery.  With the commonly supported VHD format, developers and IT Pros can move existing workloads like a SQL Server database or an existing line-of-business application into Windows Azure to create greater scale, lower cost or deploy to new users. 

· Windows Azure Virtual Network enables the creation, extension and management of virtual private networks into Windows Azure.  Organizations can now more effectively and securely extend their corporate networks into the cloud. 

· Windows Azure Web Sites makes building .NET, Node.js, Java and PHP web experiences easier and cheaper than ever while supporting deployment techniques like Git and FTP and framework applications like WordPress, Joomla!, DotNetNuke, Umbraco and Drupal that web developers already know and trust.

· Python support, new Tools  The new Windows Azure SDK (June 2012) includes updated support for Java, PHP and .NET and adds Python support, while providing 100% command line support for developers using a Windows PC or a Mac.