It looks like they are making it more complicated, most who will go there will do so to lessen complication, just to be met with even more :)

Same old concurrency problem, it is just much easier to deal with one discrete unit then it is to try and deal with many things at once.

And whilst MS is seeing this as a way to get lockin the cloud. Though take Amazon's approach, the time people will want access is the same time Amazon will want it, about this time of year.

So ultimately the cloud services will be diminished, and they will just turn into developer playgrounds, which is what I thought most of us thought they would be in the first place. If any company has hot tailed to the clouds in the hope of easing their IT burden, will be seriously smacking themselves in the face around about now.

Sounds a bit like the Willy Wonkas' App Engine while it is in Beta... But at least they give you clear limits.

If that's the best negative spin you could come up with I suspect MS will be quite happy...

It's a CTP -- not even at the Beta stage yet -- what do you expect?

... is MS smoking and where can I get some?

If you surpass your quota, just allow the damn connection and charge 300%-1000% the normal rate for surpassing it. Not only will they make a fortune but it would also persuade some clients to actually purchase more than they need for fear they get charged an arm and a leg if they underestimate their requirements.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER deny your clients anything. That is very very bad customer service.

Stop slating Microsoft when there's no justification. There's plenty of times they do deserve it - so there's no need to make them up too.

It's a CTP with the P meaning Preview. They're giving you free access to their Cloud services for you to try it out, AND iron out the problems. If for some reason you end up running the next Facebook using the CTP, and exceed your allocation, then they may shut it down. However, common sense says that if your service was so popular, they would want it to be publicised and available.

The point is that, when it goes live and comes out of CTP, people will be expected to pay for their services. Until then they're giving you the service for free, but wish to cover their backs against excessive usage, or potential problems. After all, it's a CTP so usage patterns may not be set in stone yet.

MS does quite a bit wrong, and deserve criticism at times - I just don't believe this is one of them.

They will have to place some limits because they know that their software is just not up to the job.

What if your app conflicts with a Microsoft app? What happens if your conflicting app is suddenly blocked? And, knowing in advance that your app could be blocked at anytime, whether you go over the limit or not, why would you want to use them as hosts?

People will host their stuff with them whatever the dangers, because people are stupid.

that companies stopped using timeshare services and started buying their own IT kit back in the Stone Age?

See above.

"because it's too popular and Microsoft is blocking your traffic"

Creating contravery from nothing - What else are they meant to do, give you resources on you on credit?

And I thought the credit crunch had bypassed vulture central, are stories really that tight?

Google's BigTable has been there, done that.

They have restrictions as well.

"They will have to place some limits because they know that their software is just not up to the job"

That's a pretty astounding assumption given you've not used it.

Personally, I'll wait to make my own mind up - but to date I've not really been impressed by anything to do with Cloud Computing other than the great marketing efforts that Google, Amazon and MS have come up with around this and, as they say, marketing is reality. Sort of.

As I often say in the Reg, be objective and make decisions based on your own needs and based on actually trying the product. (Thats why I won't run Vista...)