After seeing the Azure cloud hosting in action for Be A Martian (launched at PDC) I thought it would be an interesting experiment to take a small project that I was currently hosting on a traditional virtual server and see how easy it was to deploy to the cloud and what the results were.

Rather than detail the steps here I’d recommend you have a look at this great tutorial that outlines exactly what you need to do to get from File | New to opening the site in IE and seeing it run in the cloud.

While it’s not as easy as taking your existing .Net files and just uploading them to a server (and the SQL Azure process is a little complex compared to a normal SQL at the moment) but once you’ve gone through the process once I suspect, like a lot of things, it’s less challenging.

From a very quick play with the three main players I think Google’s App Engine is an interesting place to play but with fairly restricted language and database choices you do need to be comfortable with their offering to dive in and although it’s been around for a while I don’t know of any large projects deployed for real with it.

Amazon’s AWS has been around for a while and offers familiar environments to both .Net and open source developers and there are many real world examples of sites using EC2 and S3 to help them scale. While more flexible in environment than App Engine the Windows and SQL Server options offered in EC2 are pretty outdated at the moment.

Azure is very much the new kid on the block and is certainly still a little rougher around the edges than the others (for instance some of the database functionality doesn’t work with the current RTM SQL Server Manager tools, and there is no option for automatic scaling, you have to manually request new instances – which while great for managing costs isn’t so good for dealing with unexpected spikes). It’s certainly aimed more squarely at the professional developer rather than a hobbyist but it’s also very flexible – supporting both Visual Studio (as you’d expect) and Eclipse for development, and languages such as PHP and Java in addition to the .Net staples.

I suspect that whichever flavor you end up trying (and I’d recommend trying all three to get a feel for the options available and what features you might need to make your project shine) a lot of websites from simple blogs to enterprise critical projects are going to end up running as virtual instances in a robust, scalable and distributable environment.

There’s a lot of hype at the moment about Splashtop, Hyperspace, Presto and other “instant on” Linux desktops that are supposed to give you access to everything you possibly need without having to wait for Windows to start.

As I was planning to reformat my laptop soon I thought I’d try them out and see if the dream was actually real for either me or my family. Sure, I work for Microsoft but before joining here I used OSX and various Linux client configurations so I’m open minded. I have also been using Win7 for quite a while so I set that as the bar.

Splashtop

First up was Splashtop. Sadly there’s no end user configuration for that. You have to have hardware with it installed on. If anyone wants to lend me a netbook with this on to have a play with I’d love to see how it stacks up, but I suspect it’ll face the same problems I encountered with the other two.

Hyperspace

Hyperspace was the first one I could actually install and play with. Installation is pretty simple for the end user considering that it re-partitions your hard drive and makes itself the default OS. I’d really have liked it to give me the choice what I wanted as default and you should be aware that re-partitioning on the fly can be pretty dangerous (and the uninstaller did not remove the redundant partition automatically which was a real pain)

The desktop in Hyperspace is heavily locked down. There is a fixed toolbar that includes some apps I would never use and links to sites I’d never visit. If the product was free and made money based off the click-thoughts I could accept it but as this actually expects me to part with money I don’t think that’s okay.

Installing other apps seemed to be pretty limited so if you want a different Instant Messenger client or browser you’re probably out of luck. There doesn’t seem to be a native mail client so if you’re not online and able to do everything in the cloud you’ve got a fast booting paperweight.

Oh, and USB mice are not supported so you’d better like your trackpad!

Ease of installation was great, but on the whole the downsides were too much given that startup wasn’t that much less than the fully functional Win7 build on the same machine.

The limitations are such that I didn’t even want to put this in front of the family as an option. While I’m sure Rhiannon would have been able to play games there’s no integrated iPod experience.

Presto

Xandros Presto was a lot more pleasant an experience overall. The installation was, like Hyperspace, pretty straight-forward though it has the advantage of not creating its own partition, it installs into the existing Windows NTFS file system. It doesn’t make itself the default OS so you have a few seconds after a reboot to choose it otherwise your normal Windows desktop starts up.

Uninstall was equally clean (though I have since re-installed it!)

Similar to Hyperspace again this isn’t free, though there is a trial period so you can kick the tires. Xandros have been in business for quite some time with a user friendly Linux distribution with an integrated applications catalog that makes it easy to find, try and buy applications. They’ve followed the same model here but it’s more flexible than the other options.

There is a default toolbar docked with some apps already loaded but their forums show you how to get to the underlying OS to change, reconfigure and generally do what you need to do – always assuming there isn’t a GUI app that you can download from the catalog to solve the problem.

The biggest issue I have with Presto is that the app catalog offers older versions of some of the apps I wanted to use. Evolution Mail and the Exchange Connector for instance were not current enough to connect to our Exchange server (though the IMAP/Gmail connector worked fine) and there’s no link to Chrome as an alternative browser. I was however able to install the Moonlight Linux port of Silverlight without any problems and the pre-installed Flash version was okay for casual games.

Because Presto runs from the same disk partition as Windows I was able to access files from the main operating system which was a bonus.

… but is it worth 30 seconds?

Both Presto and Hyperspace start up about 30 seconds quicker but seem to have significant functionality issues that mean unless what you want to do is web based, and you have a connection, there’s not much advantage.

The Linux desktops are getting better but still lag behind OSX and Windows in usability (especially the later Win7 builds) and while Presto does let the user under the covers to tweak you’re really heading down the rabbit hole into another world if you’re just looking for a simple solution.

Because they’re stripped back they are fast – performance was great, but as most real operations are going to be web bound that’s not really a huge selling point.

I didn’t notice significantly better battery life with either of the solutions. Maybe if they were installed on a Flash drive and the hard drive spun down totally we’d see some benefit. Hardware issues like the lack of a USB mouse, wired ethernet not working properly and lack of support for the full screen resolution on my laptop makes me think that they’re not quite there yet…

With Win7 having much better support for low end hardware I think the choice for an operating system for low end machines (or quick startup) is going to become much more hotly contested in the future than it is today where the competition is Vista.

This was my third MIX (I joined Microsoft a few months after the first) and once again I spent most of the time behind the scenes.

At MIX07 I worked with one Keynote partner, at MIX08 I had partners with demos and presentations in both keynotes and for MIX09 I was the designated “Partner Wrangler” working with the non-Microsoft partners who had demos on-stage. I have to thank Mike (our Keynote owner) for the opportunity this year.

MIX this year was about the “Return on Experience” and was where we announced the final release of ASP.NET MVC as well as the developer beta of Silverlight3 so most of my focus was in those areas.

Once again I was lucky enough to be working with some really great partners who had great stories for us to bring to the event to show off the technologies – so all I really have to do is make sure they get the support they need to finish their applications in time for rehearsals that night before the keynote!

So, who was I wrangling?

The first partner demo in the MIX Keynote was StackOverflow – a great community site for developers to help each other, built on ASP.NET MVC (with standards compliant HTML) and optimized for Search Engine Optimization. Jeff and Joel have a great story and deliver it – like StackOverflow – simply.

The second partner I worked with was Netflix. Kevin McEntee talked about how Netflix has been using Silverlight both to improve the user experience on both PC and Mac, but also driving the quality of their roll-out to hardware such as the Roku or XBox360 platforms. Kevin and Steve Swasey from Netflix sat down with Tim Harris to give a bit more background on the story.

Much to my amusement I was called on to join Kevin on stage for a few moments at the end of his talk to drive a demo of the Adaptive Streaming technology in the Netflix Instant Watch player. What was really cool about working with Netflix this year was that they were the first partner I worked with back at MIX07 ;)

My third partner were Bondi Digital Publishing and Vertigo Software. They have worked together to create an amazing on-line magazine archive viewing platform that takes microfiche content, scans and uses OCR to grab the text, massage the meta data to add some intelligence (linking the contents to the articles, flagging adverts vs content etc) and then display them on the web. At MIX David Anthony from Bondi and Scott Stanfield from Vertigo demonstrated their “next generation” Silverlight3 based platform with Rolling Stone content but after the keynote they launched PlayboyArchive (NSFW!) using Silverlight2.

Tim also sat down with David and Murat Aktar from Bondi and Scott from Vertigo to discuss how they are changing the magazine industry.

My last (but certainly not least) partner was KEXP. As one of the most successful internet radio stations (and the most successful not-for-profit internet station) they have a never-ending challenge to improve their connection with their audience by delivering high quality content wherever their users are. Taking advantage of the forthcoming Silverlight3 features such as Out of Browser and Offline support combined with cloud services KEXP are looking to the future to make sure they stay at the leading edge. Tom Mara and Aaron Starkey talked about the business benefits as well as demonstrated a prototype of their work. They also provided more background in a video interview shot at their studios.

If you want to see how my partners fit into the overall keynote you can view the on-demand video, or check out Tim Sneath’s live blog of the keynote and of course don’t forget to mark your calendar because MIX10 is coming at Mandalay Bay 15-17 March 2010.

20 years ago when I started working a snow day would have meant the world grinds to a halt.

Today thanks to the wonders of the electronic office I still have access to most of the corporate resources I need to be productive and I don't have to leave home... which is a good thing given the weather!

Thanks to the weather over the last few days a bunch of meetings got canceled I had a chance to catch up on some reading and play with some things...

It's times like this that remind me just what the reach of the Microsoft eco-system is. I'm not talking about the fact I can work from home but the range of tools and technologies that enable pretty much anything you want.

The video above was created in the following way

• I have a Microsoft VX7000 Webcam connected to my Windows Home Server.
• I'm running Fwink webcam software that takes a photo every minute.
• I rename and archive the images using Limagito
• I used PhotoLapse to convert 400 or so images to a video file.
• I uploaded the video to the Live Streaming Service and that gives me the Silverlight player above.

Apart from the webcam and the Home Server everything is free software. It might not be the most elegant solution but I found all the bits and got it up and running (thanks to Live Search) in about half an hour.

I think folks too often just see Microsoft as a big monolith (even some people who work there!) but it's moments like this, and sites like Microspotting and View<myWorld> and of course some of the more pragmatic 'softees that remind us there's a lot more hidden away both internally and from folks building cool stuff in the community.

I run a variety of operating systems at home and at work. Windows XP, Vista and even OSX and Ubuntu all have their place in my life. The latter two are more curiosities - I get very little real value from either of them.

Although I use the latest and greatest at work (often dogfooding very early builds to help give feedback on problems so you don't have to!) I also have a couple of machines at home still running WinXP. One because the hardware wasn't up to Vista and  the other because, even with SP1, Vista offered no real benefit.

With Windows 7 though I think that's going to start to change.

At PDC today the audience got their first glimpse of Windows 7 in the keynote presentation, and they even got the bits to install and kick the tires as part of "the goods"

While there are a number of great reviews popping up so I won't just repeat the details but just add some personal observation.

It's quick. Startup and general usage is significantly better than Vista, and WinXP feels just plain clunky after using Windows 7 for a few days. I hope this trend improves as we get closer to release and it doesn't get bogged down with extra "stuff" we don't need.

It runs with a smaller system footprint. The performance increases are part of this, but it installs and runs just fine on my UMPC whereas to get anything working right with Vista I had to manually kill a bunch of services and turn off themes before it became responsive enough to be useful. The touch and gesture support just works!

I feel like I'm in control. With Vista I never felt like I was empowered to make decisions about my workspace. With Windows 7 I have control over little things like what order programs appear in the toolbar, what icons appear in the systray and even what the "shutdown" button does (I make it "sleep" instead).

Things just work. Bearing in mind this isn't even classified as a beta yet, but it's stable enough that I'm using it every day and things are just working. I have only found one application that I wanted to use that wouldn't run first time - but turning on compatibility mode for the application and seconds later I was up and running.

The great thing for developers is anything you build now for Vista should pretty much work when Windows 7 is released (for instance you get touch control pretty much for "free" with the updated mouse drivers).

For people wondering if they should switch from WinXP to Vista or wait... if you have capable hardware you should make the switch now and take advantage of the platform (especially with SP1 available and SP2 on the way) - don't listen to the naysayers who've not actually used it!

I remember the leap from Windows 2000 to Windows XP for the significant improvement in my user experience. I'd say we're in for the same sort of leap again. I don't want to go back to Vista or WinXP again.

As a blogger who just happens to work at Microsoft I sometimes refer to an official team blog when I want to link to more information on a topic. The problem is sometimes finding the right official blog for a definitive answer – while a personal blog might sometimes have the information it’s usually better to go to the source!

The biggest problem has often been tracking down the right blog for the right topic, but thanks to the Windows Experience Blog I now have a handy list of official blogs at my fingertips.

Just because there’s official blogs for particular teams that doesn’t mean that MSDN or TechNet or any of the personal “off network” Microsoftee blogs (or for that matter ones written by MVPs, enthusiasts or simply folks who have found a great solution to a  problem) are any less relevant.

So, if you don’t find the answer here in my ramblings… there’s always the official list :)

Are you a developer with strong skills and experience in database and data warehouse development, distributed systems, mobile applications and services, and advanced data visualizations?

Are you interested in working in beautiful and vibrant Dublin, Ireland, on Microsoft’s 2,000-person campus, which includes an on-site gym, Starbucks coffee, Xbox, foosball, and all the other typical amenities? For the right candidates the job also offers a remote work option if you are interested in telecommuting from elsewhere in Europe.

The “Global Product Development – Europe” team are recruiting. This team do core development work for several Microsoft businesses, including Hotmail, Windows Mobile, adCenter, and Microsoft’s datacenters. They build core software that reach millions of people, and have openings for dev, test, PM, and leadership positions at all levels.

If are innovative, strategic thinkers and passionate about working for Microsoft you can find more details at the “Join Microsoft Europe” site, check out the currently available jobs or if you think you fit email your resume to eurojobs@microsoft.com.

To find out more about what the team do you can check out their blog for some insights into the sorts of projects they are involved in.

Just like the Zune commercial no-one has ever seen when I see things like this I wonder why Microsoft are not smarter with their advertising.

Sync has made a good start but to start fighting back, and maybe there’s more of a move in the right direction.

A short while ago Live Search allowed you to sign up to get something back when you bought through participating vendors you found when using Live Search

Now you can contribute to good causes every time you do a search

By signing up at www.searchandgive.com, you can start donating one-cent to more than 100,000 schools and 900,000 non-profit organizations worldwide, every time you use the Internet to find whatever you’re looking for. Once you’ve signed in and set your default recipient you can set Search and Give as your default search provider for your browser.

You can also convert the tickets you earn playing games on Microsoft’s Live Search Club, into donations for those same schools or charities, and make donations just for chatting with Windows Live Messenger.

So what are you looking for? Find it at www.searchandgive.com

I still have a stack of my official business cards but I wanted something a little different to try and explain what I do as an evangelist.

I was thinking about using one of the Blue Monster images that Hugh MacLeod (Gaping Void) and Steve Clayton have done such a good job of unleashing on the world but while I love the message (“Microsoft - Change the world or go home”) I wanted something a little different.

Hugh talks about these conversation pieces as social objects so I felt it was important to find an image and a message that summed up how I feel about what I do.

Microsoft has some amazing job titles. But at the end of the day a title is a label that can be used to pigeon hole you and how people perceive your role and function. Sure, waving the Senior or Technical parts of the title, or the descriptive blurb that defines your role in 3 words can be useful in some situations, most of the time what I do is is evangelize. So my card just say “Evangelist”

One of my first presentation courses (besides pointing out you never learn anything by showing a Powerpoint) pointed out that I have two ears and only one mouth and in any conversation that’s the ratio I should use them in. Over the years I’ve also learnt that while you can sell someone something that’s not what they need you’ll have a much better relationship if you help them find what they need. Sometimes you’ll sell them something. Sometimes you’ll help them find a different solution. Sometimes you’ll help them realize they didn’t understand the problem. Whatever the outcome I want them to feel they can trust Microsoft a little bit more than they did before (and then do my best to make sure they continue to have that experience).

I’m not sure if the dinosaur and meteor metaphor is always right – I don’t want people I talk to thinking that I feel they are doomed – but I want to make sure whoever I talk to I’m helping them find the right solution. In the case of the dinosaur it was evolution.

A big “thank you” to Hugh for a great image that really appealed to me.