Microsoft Changing Name of Windows Azure to 'Microsoft Azure' -- Redmondmag.com

Microsoft Changing Name of Windows Azure to 'Microsoft Azure'

By Kurt Mackie
03/25/2014

It's official. Microsoft is swapping out the Windows Azure name and plans to start calling it "Microsoft Azure" next month.

The change in nomenclature will take effect on April 3, 2014, according to Microsoft's announcement today. While many may be scratching their heads over this name change, it was billed as a strategic decision by Microsoft.

"This change reflects Microsoft’s strategy and focus on Azure as the public cloud platform for customers as well as for our own services Office 365, Dynamics CRM, Bing, OneDrive, Skype, and Xbox Live," the announcement explained.

Windows Azure is Microsoft's cloud computing platform supporting .NET, but also Python, Ruby and Java languages. It also supports Windows Server and Linux operating systems.

The name change was leaked earlier to veteran Microsoft reporter Mary Jo Foley, who reported it on Monday.

Microsoft early on had linked Windows Server and Windows Azure together. The idea was to promise smooth transitions from premises-based server environments to Windows Azure. That's still a big focus, particularly with the Windows Azure Virtual Machines service launched last April.

Microsoft announced the availability of virtual machine images of Oracle's relational database management software earlier this month. Organizations can run those solutions in a virtual machine by selecting an image from the Windows Azure Management Console.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

Choosing the Right SSID for Your Network

Attracting attention, whether through a default or funny Wi-Fi name, could lead to a security issue.
Microsoft Outlines Latest Security Efforts at Ignite

In the wake of last year's CrowdStrike incident, Microsoft has worked to publicly rehabilitate its security image through new initiatives and public commitments to improve. That push continued this week at Ignite, where Microsoft announced a handful of new security tools and updates.
Nadella on Copilot: 'Major Platform Shifts Are in the Air'

As should be no surprise, Copilot took center stage during Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's keynote speech to open Microsoft Ignite 2024.
Azure AI Foundry Revealed at Microsoft Ignite

Microsoft is consolidating its Azure generative AI tools into a unified platform named Azure AI Foundry.
Microsoft Bolsters Fabric at Ignite

While Fabric has improved in the year since its release, there are still some glaring issues with the platform.