Today at the O'Reilly Strata Conference + Hadoop World, Microsoft Corp. announced new previews of Windows Azure HDInsight Service and Microsoft HDInsight Server for Windows, the company's Apache Hadoop-based solutions for Windows Azure and Windows Server. The new previews, available today at www.microsoft.com/bigdata, deliver Apache Hadoop compatibility for the enterprise and simplify deployment of Hadoop-based solutions. In addition, delivering these capabilities on the Windows Server and Azure platforms enables customers to use the familiar tools of Excel, PowerPivot for Excel and Power View to easily extract actionable insights from the data.

"Big data should provide answers for business, not complexity for IT," said David Campbell, technical fellow, Microsoft. "Providing Hadoop compatibility on Windows Server and Azure dramatically lowers the barriers to setup and deployment and enables customers to pull insights from any data, any size, on-premises or in the cloud."

Microsoft Corp. and StorSimple Inc. today announced that Microsoft has reached a definitive agreement to acquire StorSimple, a leader in Cloud-integrated Storage (CiS) solutions. The addition of CiS will advance Microsoft's Cloud OS vision and help customers more efficiently embrace hybrid cloud computing.

"Customers faced with explosive growth in data are looking to the cloud to help them store, manage and archive that data. But, to be effective, cloud storage needs to integrate with IT's current investments," said Michael Park , corporate vice president, Server and Tools Division for Microsoft. "StorSimple's approach helps customers seamlessly integrate on-premises storage with cloud storage through intelligent automation and management."

Today Agawi, the cloud-based games streaming platform for "any game, anywhere, instantly," is announcing a collaboration with Microsoft that will enable a variety of games on Windows 8 devices, utilizing the Windows Azure platform for streaming from the cloud.

Agawi, formerly iSwifter, recently launched its version 2.0 to offer cloud streaming of all forms of games content-including social Facebook games as well as mid-core and hardcore titles-to all devices. Popular AAA games will be made available in the coming months for instant play on Windows 8 devices with no additional work required by developers, who are encouraged to contact the company at Agawi.io to be included in the developer partner program.

Today in a global online launch event Satya Nadella, president of Microsoft Server and Tools Business, announced the general availability of Windows Server 2012. In his keynote speech, Nadella described how Windows Server 2012 is a cornerstone of the Cloud OS, which provides one consistent platform across private, hosted and public clouds.

"The operating system has always been the heartbeat of IT and is now undergoing a renaissance in the new world of continuous cloud services, connected devices and big data," Nadella said. "Microsoft's unique legacy in the most widely used operating systems, applications and cloud services positions us to deliver the Cloud OS, based on Windows Server and Windows Azure, helping customers achieve a datacenter without boundaries."

Today during a keynote address at COMPUTEX, Steven Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) division at Microsoft Corp., demonstrated the breadth of innovation happening across Windows and the Windows ecosystem. He announced the second community technology preview (CTP) for Windows Embedded Standard 8, unveiled Quanta's new private cloud server solution, highlighted Ford's launch of its award-winning SYNC in-car connectivity system for Taiwan, and showed off some of the latest Windows devices.

When it comes to delivering Windows technologies across PCs, servers, phones and specialized devices, Microsoft is taking a holistic approach by providing familiar tools and technologies that enable customers and partners to maximize their investments. To that end, Microsoft today announced the second CTP for Windows Embedded Standard 8, which delivers the power of Windows for specialized devices running line-of-business applications within intelligent systems. Windows Embedded Standard 8 encompasses tools for natural, immersive user experiences and the ability for OEMs to define and control the device capabilities, with additional technologies that extend the power of Windows on industry devices. The CTP is available immediately for download by visiting this page.

AMD today announced that it is providing its Quad Core AMD Opteron processor for Windows Azure Compute Service, the cloud service operating system which is featured this week at PDC, as well as its selection as a key processor partner for cloud computing solutions by leading global web-based companies such as STRATO and DAUM Communications. Cloud Computing Environments (CCE) provide an opportunity for companies to increase capacity and capabilities without significantly increasing investments in software, personnel or infrastructure. The Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor with AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) technology and Direct Connect Architecture was selected because of its ability to deliver significant performance-per-watt efficiencies, successfully handle heavy peak workloads without sacrificing performance, enable massive cloud scaling and offer a reliable foundation that helps global, web-based CCE better manage the demands of a 24/7 uptime for enterprises large and small.

Today, during a keynote speech at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 2008 (PDC2008), Ray Ozzie, Microsoft Corp.'s chief software architect, announced Windows Azure, the cloud-based service foundation underlying its Azure Services Platform, and highlighted this platform's role in delivering a software plus services approach to computing. The Azure Services Platform is an industry-leading move by Microsoft to help developers build the next generation of applications that will span from the cloud to the enterprise datacenter and deliver compelling new experiences across the PC, Web and phone.

Ozzie described how this platform combines cloud-based developer capabilities with storage, computational and networking infrastructure services, all hosted on servers operating within Microsoft's global datacenter network. This provides developers with the ability to deploy applications in the cloud or on-premises and enables experiences across a broad range of business and consumer scenarios. A limited community technology preview (CTP) of the Azure Services Platform was initially made available to developers in attendance at PDC2008, giving them a chance to try out its features and functions and plan for their own future development.