[DenisM]

A bit of feedback:

I would be hesitant to start using this because there is no way to anticipate the pricing scheme whenever it shows up. Last thing I want is to commit to a platform andthen find out it's cost-prohibitve. Also, google promises to keep certain level of usage free which makes me more likely to try because I know I won't get suddenly hosed with high prices.

[dmix]

I've heard this come up many times today. I'm curious if everyone questioned the financial motives of Google App Engine when it first came out.

Then again the target market for Azure seems to be enterprise IT depts, who tend to be involved with proprietary technology, and not start-up developers looking for a cheap and efficient host.

[DenisM]

1. Yes, I did question it back then too. Google has since rectified their stance and published their pricing scheme. The paid service is not operational yet but it's a neccesary piece of inforation to plan the projects ahead. I have started learning pyhon based on that information (python is required for google's services) but did not commit the project itself yet because the ship date is still up in the air.

2. This is not true, they target several markets and among them both corporate develoers and web developers: http://www.microsoft.com/azure/corpdev.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/azure/webdev.mspx

[bprater]

Agreed, it's troubling that Microsoft isn't giving us any indication of what pricing may be.

[TweedHeads]

The first kick is free you know