Amazon opens Windows to cloud service

Amazon and Microsoft both plan to launch Windows-based cloud services

Amazon Web Services plans to add support for Windows and SQL Server code to its cloud computing service.

The company said that in the coming months it will add support for the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Server to its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) computing platform.

The addition will allow users to run SQL Server, ASP.Net and Visual Studio code within EC2.

Amazon said that the Windows addition will also allow users to control EC2 systems through the Windows Remote Desktop software. All other Amazon Web Services components will work with the new Windows software as well.

As with other EC2 services, Amazon plans to offer the Windows features on a pay-as-you-go basis in which users will be charged for how often they access the features.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft made news of its own in the cloud computing arena. Chief executive Steve Ballmer said at an event in London that the company would roll out a cloud-computing product within the month.

Tentatively known as 'Windows Cloud', Ballmer said that the new product will be released within the next four weeks.

Ballmer, who is midway through a European tour, promised that the cloud operating system would be similar to Windows Server in many respects and could sport a service-oriented architecture as well.