Microsoft To Release Cloud-Oriented Windows OS 209
CWmike writes "Within a month, Microsoft will unveil what CEO Steve Ballmer called 'Windows Cloud.' The operating system, which will likely have a different name, is intended for developers writing cloud-computing applications, said Ballmer, who spoke to an auditorium of IT managers at a Microsoft-sponsored conference in London. Ballmer was short on details, saying more information would spoil the announcement. Windows Cloud is a separate project from Windows 7, the operating system that Microsoft is developing to succeed Windows Vista."
Microsoft Dark Cloud (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Microsoft Cloud (Score:5, Funny)
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No, it has one [silverlight.net]
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Windows Cloud OS??? This is bull excrement. I want to OWN my programs (like Word 2000), not have to keep renting it "off the net" year after year after year.
Hmmm. Looks like I'll still be using XP 'til the year 2020.
I refuse to touch Vista and Cloud sounds like garbage too.
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Don't people usually close Windows when it turns cloudy ?
Don't hold your breath (Score:5, Funny)
This sounds like vapourware to me.
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Actually, sounds like Ulteo [ulteo.com]. I've played with Ulteo and it is pretty close, and technically MS should be able to throw enough people behind something like it.
Re:Don't hold your breath (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, sounds like Ulteo. I've played with Ulteo and it is pretty close, and technically MS should be able to throw enough people behind something like it.
Hell no. Unlike some people, Microsoft knows what "OS" means, and it's an OS: process management, drivers, the entire party.
If you want to get intot he right mindset about this project, consider it a spinoff of the Windows Server family (but will likely be a subset powered mostly or entirely by .NET).
Re:Don't hold your breath (Score:5, Insightful)
and it's an OS: process management, drivers, the entire party.
Please click my link... Ulteo can be installed (and looks a lot like Ubuntu). I only ran in in a virtual machine, but it seemed like a pretty nice little setup. My big complaint is that they have apt-get, but you really can't use it or stuff breaks.
That's strange. (Score:2, Insightful)
Unlike some people, Microsoft knows what "OS" means, and it's an OS: process management, drivers, the entire party.
Surely you're mistaken. If I recall correctly, several years ago Microsoft testified that their web browser was an integral part of the O/S [usdoj.gov] during an anti-trust hearing or some other little nuisance distraction. Or maybe I'm just imagining that.
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You're making the common mistake of assuming Microsoft (or any company, politician, or person you just picked up at the bar) actually believes what they say.
Re:Don't hold your breath (Score:5, Interesting)
I suspect you're closer than you think.
Some time ago, rumour had it that Microsoft had allocated ~300 of its best engineers to work on Midori [engadget.com], a product based on its Singularity research OS.
Singularity, for those not familiar with it, is a highly impressive piece of work. It's not actually Windows at all, in fact it bears absolutely no resemblence to any existing OS architecturally and didn't even support graphics when we were last able to look at it. But it was a ground-up fresh new OS that had the following characteristics: entirely .NET based (with extensions), extremely robust and extremely high performance.
In particular, Singularity is able to go about 30% faster on I/O intensive apps than traditional server operating systems like Linux and Windows because it doesn't use hardware process isolation, but rather does everything in software. Hmmm, an OS with no graphics support, no applications, but which can run .NET applications far faster than the competition. Sounds basically ideal for a server OS or "cloud windows" if you ask me.
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Honestly, I assumed resources were being pulled away from that to focus on Windows 7, but I do remember reading up on the project.
I think you're right however.
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Re:Don't hold your breath So hazy i can't see... (Score:2, Funny)
Project/Code Name?
Candidates:
Tacoma
Wincoma
GLAUcoma
Cloudy
Misty
TearDrop
Charmin
Re:Don't hold your breath So hazy i can't see... (Score:5, Funny)
Project/Code Name?
Since this is Slashdot, how about...
"Insensitive Cloud"
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Clouds ARE insensitive, you clo .... (struck by lightening, vaporized...)
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No, hold your breath! (Score:2)
Make it the next poll! (Score:4, Funny)
I would have voted for "Windows Nimbus."
This should be the next poll.
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Does Harry Potter get a Windows Nimbus 2000 in the special edition?
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A "Windows Cloud"? Damn straight I'm holding my breath.
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A "Windows Cloud"? Damn straight I'm holding my breath.
...until your face turns BSOD?
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Blue Stratocumulus of Death? Are you implying they are "seeding the cloud(TM*)"?
*predictive, Wonder if FSF could snag it,,
What it is... (Score:5, Informative)
It's not new and it's not vaporware, it's also not Windows on the cloud. It's called Microsoft Mesh. It's been in used for many months, although only the first few services are available. Right now you get PC to PC and PC to Web synchronization of data. It's pretty much the best document remote access / sharing solution right now.
MS wants to add applications too, which many people compare with Google Docs but it's not that at all. It's basically a way that people will be able to use the same app from anywhere, have multiple people use the same application thru this mesh. How it will end up working is.. as of yet unknown.
The upcoming PDC conference in October will be all about Mesh, which is what Balmer is referring to.
Wonder if (Score:5, Funny)
they have an HTML version of the Blue Screen Of Death.
Re:Wonder if (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wonder if (Score:4, Funny)
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Yes, they do have one, here it is [microsoft.com]
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cloud = vaporware? (Score:3, Funny)
It seems so obvious now.
What is it? (Score:3, Insightful)
Is this a web-based back end for hosting apps on a server? Is it an online platform of application infrastructure? Is it a toolkit/API for writing apps like Ruby-on-Rails?
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It's Windows Vaporware [today.com]. It's a dessert wax and a floor topping. It's any marketing spin at all that they think might put people off competitors' products.
Anyone can talk up a hand of five aces [roughlydrafted.com]. Producing it when called is a bit harder.
Perhaps it will have $DATABASE_FILESYSTEM!
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Re:What is it? (Score:5, Funny)
This is the pre-announcement to announce an announcement. You'll have to wait for the actual announcement to find out what the hell it is.
Re:What is it? (Score:4, Insightful)
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My guess based on the article is this is some mutant client server thingy.
Hate to be so technical but this was in the article.
"Ballmer was dismissive of Google, saying Docs and Spreadsheets has "relatively low usage" and that users want richer features in an office software package. "We want software more powerful than software that runs in a browser," Ballmer said."
Well if you are not going to run in a browser then you must have some other type of client.
My best guess is it will use SilverLight instead of
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I think that is a very good guess. A full client would be Windows only, however Silverlight-in-a-browser could mean Linux supported via Moonlight.
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Until they prevent it at some point.
Just remember IE for the Mac.
Silverlight/Moonlight (Score:2)
The Mono group own all the copyright on all the Moonlight code, and part of the EU agreement is Microsoft agreeing to develop some interoperability projects. Rolling back on the specific pledges they made in regards to Mono and Moonlight would likely bring down EU fines.
Microsoft is likely to remain largely closed off in other regards, but I don't know if they are going to suddenly try to close off Silverlight to block Moonlight users. Even they tried, it isn't like they can close off the source code for
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And, probably, very soon that's the only way you'll get Office or Money, and if you don't want to host your own server and buy server licenses (which will be pricey), you'll just rent the software which will run from Microsoft's servers.
Microsoft's been looking to switch from selling software to Software-as-a-Se
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Or is it a rebadged copy of Windows Web Server 2008.
Will it function cross browser? (Score:3, Funny)
hohum (Score:5, Funny)
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"Vista has not succeed"
Sounds like something from icanhascheezburger
RMS was right! (Score:5, Informative)
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/30/2146250 [slashdot.org]
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Indeed. As I said in response to that article:
Stallman is right that it's a bunch of evil-doing corporations campaigning to make it true: cloud computing, as it's called, is a scheme to further legitimize and sell consumers on the notion of "web apps" and paying not once for a software license but rather paying every month, as if software is no different than a cable TV subscription.
Software publishers have had this goal for years now; they've been envious of the consistent cash flow and healthy balance sheets of "content" publishers, and so have been eager to re-brand software as content and sell it as such to consumers. Attempts to do this directly have repeatedly failed, perhaps because of people like me who saw the ulterior motive and made it public. Since attempts to sell software directly by subscription have failed, the latest plan is to use the concept of "web apps" to sell people on software as content; once people habituate to web apps, they'll habituate to the notion of paying every month for software as well.
Web apps are all about making more money and acquiring more control, not providing better software or services. Any tool that furthers that goal, including "Windows Cloud", is something that should be burned at the stake, along with the people that would choose to employ it.
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Damn you! I was going to post the following.
---
'Cloud computing is a trap!' and I have good sources:
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/30/2146250 [slashdot.org]
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Good thing you didn't.
Windows for cloud computing (Score:4, Funny)
I sense a disturbance in the Force ... (Score:5, Funny)
as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in labored puns about windows and clouds and nobody had the sense to silence them.
Cloud computing (Score:4, Insightful)
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You mean the remote data stores where minimum wage
employees steal your medical history and then try
to black mail the originating hospital?
You mean those remote data stores?
Any outsourcing lowers quality and reduces control.
You've got to decide whether or not you are willing
to tolerate or risk either of those.
Network clusters are fine so long as you control the cluster.
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Personally I'm just hoping that when M$ says they're making a cloud OS it means they bought Plan 9 and have put a pretty face on it.
Which competitor has just released something? (Score:4, Insightful)
I haven't been following this stuff.
Is it safe to assume that some competitor has just released a working toolkit for developing cloud applications that works pretty well? And that Ballmer needs to get the pointy-haired boss to stop Dilbert from using that toolkit, and redesign the mission-critical project around Windows Cloud?
Linux (Score:2)
Look at what they are afraid of:
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/ [asus.com]
See that category list with links? It will keep growing and growing and the only thing you DON'T need to run cloud based client computing is the bulky XP or Vista. Launching "Office" on a EeePC is going to Google Docs site for example. It is all WWW standards and other standard networking products.
They figure there is no place for them with current offers. Back in 1995, Marc Andreessen made the biggest mistake by openly saying "Netscape will soon
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Its not so much a dedicated toolkit, but Amazon has just announced that Windows Server and SQL Server are in private beta on EC2 and will be generally available on that platform by the end of the year, meaning that Windows software not developed for the cloud can nonetheless be moved into Amazon's version of the cloud soon. So, yeah, there is something for them to be headin
I see a Clippy, and a doggie, and a Bob... (Score:2)
but are those my financial records on that torrent server?
Yay for Windows Vapor! (Score:4, Insightful)
I am so excited about $NEXT_VERSION of Windows [today.com]. It will go beyond just solving all of the problems with $CURRENT_VERSION, it will be an entirely new paradigm. Forget about security problems, those are all fixed in $NEXT_VERSION. And they're finally ridding themselves of $ANCIENT_LEGACY_STUFF.
Also, there'll be $DATABASE_FILESYSTEM. It'll be awesome!
I wonder how $NEXT_VERSION will compare to $NEXT_NEXT_VERSION.
("Windows Cloud"? Good freakin' gosh, what do they have for a marketing department?)
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Good freakin' gosh, what do they have for a marketing department?
The same guys who thought pairing Seinfeld and Gates could match up to the awesome juggernaut that is John Hodgman.
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First read as "John Goodman."
So, um... (Score:3, Insightful)
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Because Amazon, knowing that Microsoft has been working in this direction, actually announced (not just pre-announced) that Windows Server and SQL Server are now running on EC2 in private beta, and will be generally available by the end of the year.
This pre-announcement is to
No Microsoft lock-in "advantage" in this field (Score:4, Insightful)
The whole point of cloud computing is to run your server apps on whatever is available to run it. These apps do not, should not, and typically CANNOT do any configuration or long-term storage on any individual instance they run on, so everything they do is compartmentalized through specialized IO and shared storage APIs, which can be reimplemented on pretty much anything.
Sure, on the desktop everybody supports Windows, because they've got the drivers, Office is popular, etc etc. But going to any from-scratch model like cloud computing, Microsoft carries absolutely zero advantage or momentum from their other market saturations.
Are you sure? (Score:2)
Cloud computing = fail (Score:3, Insightful)
Mod me down for being a little jaded against ideas like this, but I just had to say something...
Ok, so, it still requires the client to boot some sort of OS stub, right? It still needs a method to connect to the Internet...and it sure isn't going to be BOOTP or PXE. You'll still have to have a local OS, but will apps/games run on it?
How is this going to benefit anyone except the corporate coffers? Of course $mega_corps love this idea! They don't care about your experience, they care about taking your money, and remaining in control.
If cloud computing grabs hold of us, we'll have to pay per month. Even just $20/month over 5 years = $1200...heh, yeah, sounds like a superdeal for everybody! Oh, and of course they will charge more per accessible app...and don't expect to use the same app for years, you'll be pushed forward to new apps without your consent.
Do I stream my data, like movies too?
What about bandwidth caps? How about your throttle?
What happens when my Internet connection goes down?
What happens when THEIR Internet connection goes down?
What happens when their SERVER goes down? Subverted? If someone doesn't notice?
What happens when I need custom apps installed? What if they aren't "approved"?
Who do I call when an app doesn't work/crashes?
Will my printers work? How about the rest of my attached devices? Legacy devices?
What happens if I want access to my stuff while I'm not near an Internet connection?
Who gets to look at my operating log?
Are advertisements banned?
Imagine how convoluted the simple task of inserting a scanned image will be.
A modern OS needs to be local, all this will be is just an in-browser-web-app, OR some virtual desktop a la Terminal Services.
It won't happen. /rant
Good Call, Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Good Call, Microsoft. With five editions of Vista competing with three editions of XP and nine editions of Server 2008 (including three that are just the regular versions without the hypervisor software), plus separate 64-bit versions of everything, the Windows product line wasn't nearly diffuse enough.
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I make it 14 versions of Server 2008. I think you have missed Home Server, Small Business Server, Small Business Server Premium, Essential Business Server Standard and Essential Business Server Premium.
On the Vista side, you may have missed Business Embedded and Ultimate Embedded.
Let me guess... (Score:3, Interesting)
Windows Vista that doesn't accept being offline and can store apps in a proprietary XML like format that you can display with 'the advanced and intergrated new exiting underlining technology MS has developed and maybe patented' *cough*aka IE8 extension for offline pages*cough*.
Sounds like something even I could have made by adding and removing some stuff in Ubuntu and remaster the image...
So... (Score:2)
Of course, we already knew that Microsoft was our industry's Lex Luthor.
Is it a coincidence (Score:3, Interesting)
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How do I load an OS to the cloud? (Score:2)
So how do I get my server into the cloud anyway? Do I need an airplane, or a balloon? How can I find a long enough power cord? Is that a blue screen, or just a reflection of the sky?
And most importantly, can I cluster a Microsoft cloud with an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud?
Should've Seen it Coming (Score:2)
like flies to shite... (Score:2)
Just in case this is the latest "Netscape moment"*, the latest hot technology that might prove useful so they will carve up a slice of it for themselves and smother innovation with a deluge of patents and FUD. Stamping their branding irons into the body of development to get their logo and product into every corner.
I'm careful to avoid mentioning any specific firm here - because this goes for them all I
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Its ignorance in general that does that kindda stuff... its not just with firms. Having a buzzword filled resume will net you a well paying job (if you don't mind working for idiots), having a buzzword compliant product will get you customers, etc.
It gives people unfamiliar with the details a sense of security. "Oh! this is WEB 2.0, I can't go wrong!". "Oh this web app has Ajax! Its going to be FAAAAAAAAAAST". "Oh this doesn't have any trans fat in it, its healthy FOR SURE!"
It's just GoogleApps (Score:2)
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I'm hoping for an internet multiplayer version of Solitaire. Oh wait...
Windows cloud (Score:2)
When applications go up (or down) in a puff of blue smoke (or vapor)
Windows + Cloud = Irving Berlin (Score:2, Funny)
Windows Cloud... (Score:5, Funny)
This is that time of the year again? (Score:2)
This already exists in the wild (Score:5, Funny)
This windows cloud computing stuff is already used to send millions of emails a day and so on. The product itself really isn't news, the only news is that Ballmer is finally giving it a product name so we can talk about it more effectively in the media.
For a list of computers participating in the Windows Cloud, go here [spamhaus.org] and request an rsync feed for the XBL.
Microsoft anti-piracy will be interesting here (Score:2)
What will they say to people who try to access the cloud without authorization? I think the error message should be: "Hey! You! Get off of my cloud!"
At least it would make more sense to go with that Stones song than Start Me Up.
Amazon has been beta a similar idea for a while (Score:2)
Amazon has been beta testing [pcworld.com] running Windows servers on EC2, and from what I've heard from Amazon, one of the challenges is creating a Microsoft license that will allow Microsoft to capture revenue from this and similar projects elsewhere.
I wouldn't be surprised if they used a business model similar to Red Hat's cloud image [redhat.com], where Red Hat gets a tiny payment for every hour the server is running.
Sounds like Midori/Singularity... (Score:2)
From wikipedia:
"Midori is the code name for a managed code operating system developed secretly by Microsoft. It has been reported[1][2] to be a possible commercial successor to the Singularity operating system, a research project started in 2003 to build a highly-dependable operating system in which the kernel, device drivers, and applications are all written in managed code.
The code name Midori was first discovered through the PowerPoint presentation CHESS: A systematic testing tool for concurrent software
Better Name (Score:2)
Did Ballmer say OS? (Score:2)
Leased computing (Score:2)
The holy grail, the return to the days of the mainframe ( in concept ) where you can charge your customers for *anything* they do.
No pay, no play.
Microsoft will do what they're good at (Score:2)
Why? (Score:2)
What's the point of writing another OS to do this? Are they saying that Windows isn't good enough to perform these "cloud" functions? If so, then why don't they rewrite Windows so it is good enough?
Or is it just a part of their trend of having dozens of versions of each OS, like "Vista: people with small hands and lactose intolerance Edition"?
Previewed previously (Score:3, Funny)
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You mean lin-dex. Penguin(tm) brand?
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Think it will be called the Blue Sky Of Death now.
Re:Distributed Blue Screen of Death (Score:5, Funny)
No, the Falling Blue Sky Of Death.
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How is cloud computing really any different than using a (dumb) vt100 terminial...
A vt1000 is a thin client being used as a thin client. This is a fat client being used as a thin client. Maybe we'll see a return of "Internet Appliances"