Speaking Wednesday at a Software Plus Services event in London, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed that Microsoft will look to release a version of its operating system designed specifically for cloud computing later this month.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaks about Microsoft’s role in the new software economy at the Churchill Club’s annual dinner in Santa Clara, California, USA 25 September 2008. EPA/LOU DEMATTEIS
"We need a new operating system designed for the cloud and we will introduce one in about four weeks, we'll even have a name to give you by then. But let's just call it for the purposes of today 'Windows Cloud'," said Ballmer, according to reports by The Register.
More details will be given at the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, towards the end of October. However Ballmer did apparently hint at some features that Windows Cloud might have, including management modeling and a way to replicate data across multiple physical servers in various locations.
“Just like Windows Server looked a lot like Windows but with new properties, new characteristics and new features, so will Windows Cloud look a lot like Windows Server.”
Reports are also circulating that Windows Cloud is separate to the much hyped Windows 7, which Microsoft hope will erase much, if not all, of the bad memories surrounding Windows Vista.
Ballmer’s announcement comes just days after Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman widely condemned the very idea of cloud computing. He called cloud computing nothing more than a “hype campaign” set up by software vendors who want to control their users.
But cloud computing is becoming more and more important. Services like Amazon S3 allows users to backup much of their data to the internet and allows developers a site to host their programs (like Twitter). Google’s much hyped Google Docs is also another prominent cloud computing contestant, allowing users word processing functionality online.
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