Microsoft’s Windows Azure Coming in January

By Dena Cassella Published November 18, 2009

In October of 2008, Microsoft first unveiled its new Azure cloud-based application. The application was offered to developers for free to allow them to test out the service and get ready for the full introduction of the platform. Microsoft also held a contest earlier this year with $5,000 in prizes for several categories to get developers to build applications for Azure.

Microsoft had always said that Azure would be free for a limited time. Reuters reports that Microsoft has now announced that Azure will officially launch in full form on January 1, 2010. For the first month, the service will be free. Starting in February 2010 the service will move to a paid platform.

Recommended Videos

At its core Azure is a software platform for developers to use to write programs that allow customers to store data and more. Google and Amazon are already offering online services that use cloud architecture. Google has its free online word processing and productivity applications and Amazon has the aforementioned cloud-based storage it sells.

Exactly how much the service will cost on a monthly basis is unknown. Microsoft’s Ray Ozzie announced the official launch date for the service at the annual Microsoft software developers conference Tuesday.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Haole built. O'ahu grown

Topics

Computing

Arc browser is shutting down in December. Long live, ya trailblazer!

The browser that revolutionizes tab management is finally riding into the sunset.

Arc browser farewell note.

Arc browser is shutting down on December 22, following a long spell of maintenance-only work as the company behind it moves forward with its successor, Dia. Earlier today, The Browser Company announced that the beloved web browser will ride into the sunset in two months, but will continue development of the Dia browser.

"That's not an easy sentence to write. We spent years building Arc and celebrating each and every release along the way: we have so much pride and love for what we made alongside the Arc community," says the company.

Computing

1Password wants AI agents to handle logins without ever taking a peek at your passwords

1Password is expanding its secure login system to Muse, Claude Duet, Dots, ChatGPT Work, and more.

1Password for AI Agents launched

The next chapter of AI is knocking on our doors, as AI agents like Meta Muse, OpenAI Dots, Gemini Spark, among others, are becoming mainstream, and they are genuinely quite useful for a lot of things, ranging from being your personal assistant all the way to helping you manage a small business. However, many are still quite hesitant about giving these agents access to your accounts and their sensitive credentials.

1Password thinks it has a fix for that trust problem. Its new 1Password for Agents platform lets AI agents sign in to your accounts without ever seeing or storing the passwords, sensitive information, or other credentials they need.

Computing

AI chatbots are falling prey to manipulative prompts that could help stalkers spy on victims

Confident answers, dangerous gaps: why survivors need humans first.

Chatbots have one talent I can't stop noticing: they sound sure, even when they're wrong. Usually, that's merely annoying. When someone's safety is on the line, it's dangerous.

A new NYU Tandon study tested four AI chatbots on real questions about being stalked or controlled through devices, and experts rated 86% of replies inaccurate, incomplete, or unsafe (via NYU Tandon).