Cloud Computing

Microsoft TypeScript 2.0 Language -- Ready for Prime Time in IT?

Microsoft updates TypeScript language to 2.0. It’s an open-source superset of JavaScript, but said to be easier to use, more productive, create more reliable code, and compile down to standard JavaScript. Version 2.0 adds features such as non-nullable types and expanded control flow analysis. Plus tagged unions, the never type, this types for functions, and of course glob support...

Sep 23, 2016

Cloud Computing

Microsoft Opens “Cloud Germany” with 2 New DCs -- Azure und 365 über alles

Microsoft’s cloud: ready for Germany. Two new data centers now open for Azure IaaS/PaaS, with Office and Dynamics SaaS coming soon. Germany is well known for its strict data-privacy laws. And it’s one of the largest economies in the European Union. So it was a sensible location choice after the UK DCs opened earlier this month...

Sep 21, 2016

Cloud Computing

Microsoft Azure Outage -- Was it a DNS DDoS?

Azure recently experienced a nasty outage, lasting several hours. It seems to have been centered around DNS, but had wide side effects. Microsoft’s cloud platform took something of a beating. By the sound of it, a DDoS could have been to blame. Or not. Redmond isn’t saying...

Sep 16, 2016

Cloud Computing

Microsoft Usurps Oracle and Salesforce.com -- Inks Huge Dynamics Deal at HP Inc

HP buys 26,500 seats of Microsoft Dynamics, displacing Salesforce and Oracle. It’s a huge deal, cementing Microsoft as the SaaS leader, according to analysts. As goes SaaS, so goes IaaS and PaaS? Scott Guthrie certainly thinks so, arguing that only Amazon stands between Microsoft and the cloud top spot. Who’d a thunk it...

Sep 14, 2016

Hardware

Will Microsoft Launch a Surface All-In-One Desktop Next Month? Sources say...

Microsoft is said to be launching a new Surface, codenamed Cardinal. The new device will be a one-box desktop PC—i.e., an all-in-one (AiO), as popularlized by Apple’s iMac. The avian-themed rumor seems credible and well-sourced. And an October hardware event would fit with Microsoft’s previous form. But beyond that, everything is mere speculation. None of which stops us from some amusing Friday musing...

Sep 9, 2016

Cloud Computing

Microsoft’s Cloud in Brexit Britain -- New Azure and Office 365 DCs for UK

Microsoft Azure and Office 365 hosted in the UK for the first time. Redmond just opened up three new data centers in England and Wales, arranged in two Azure regions. This brings the number of Regions to 28 globally. Among the launch customers are Aston Martin, a regional health authority, and the Ministry of Defence [sic]. This should give a boost to Microsoft’s data-sovereignty story...

Sep 7, 2016