Microsoft to rebrand Windows Azure to Microsoft Azure

According to a report in ZDNet, Microsoft will change the name of its Windows Azure cloud computing platform to Microsoft Azure. The announcement is expected tomorrow, with an effective date of April 3, the first day of the Build developer conference. I’ve reached out to Microsoft for comment on the reported name change and will update this post when I hear back.

Microsoft will announce its rebranding of its “Windows Azure” cloud operating system to “Microsoft Azure,” this week, according to a couple of tipsters of mine. The announcement is expected to happen tomorrow, March 25, and to take effect on April 3, the second day of Microsoft’s Build conference in San Francisco, said a couple of individuals who asked not to be identified, but who are familiar with Microsoft’s plans. The rebranding makes sense, given Windows Azure isn’t all about Windows. Azure customers can run Linux in virtual machines on the operating system. Azure users also can run Oracle databases and middleware, and use non-Windows-specific development tools, including Java, Ruby, PHP and Python.