The public preview of hosted Virtual Machines in Windows Azure is now available to the general public. This platform preview enables you to evaluate our new IaaS and Enterprise Networking capabilities. Once you have registered for the 90 Day Free Trial and created a new account, you can access the preview directly at this link: https://account.windowsazure.com/PreviewFeatures

If you’ve been to any of my presentations lately, you’ll know that I’m fired up about these new offerings. As I’ve worked through some scenarios for myself and with my customers, I’ve been collecting the resources that helped me to ramp up.

Here’s a collection of links to the items I’ve found most useful:

Core Resources

• Digital Chalk Talk Videos – detailed technical overviews of the new Windows Azure services and supporting technologies as announced June 7, including Virtual Machines (IaaS Windows and Linux), Storage, Command Line Tools http://www.meetwindowsazure.com/DigitalChalkTalks
• Scenarios Videos on You Tube – “how to” guides, including “Create and Manage Virtual Networks”, “Create & Manage SQL Database”, and many more http://www.youtube.com/user/windowsazure
• Windows Azure Trust Center - provides a comprehensive of view of Windows Azure and security and compliance practices http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/support/trust-center/
• MSDN Forums for Windows Azure http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/support/preview-support/
• Microsoft Knowledge Base article Microsoft server software support for Windows Azure Virtual Machines

Videos

• Deep Dive into Running Virtual Machines on Windows Azure
• Windows Azure Virtual Machines and Virtual Networks
• Windows Azure IaaS and How It Works
• Deep Dive into Windows Azure Virtual Machines: From the Cloud Vendor and Enterprise Perspective
• An Overview of Managing Applications, Services, and Virtual Machines in Windows Azure
• Monitoring and Managing Your Windows Azure Applications and Services
• Overview of Windows Azure Networking Features
• Hybrid Will Rule: Options to Connect, Extend and Integrate Applications in Your Data Center and Windows Azure
• Business Continuity in the Windows Azure Cloud
• Linux on Windows Azure

Blogs

• Understanding Windows Azure Virtual Machines
• An Overview of Windows Azure Virtual Network
• Virtual Machines and Windows
• Running SQL Server in a Windows Azure Virtual Machine
• Support for Linux Virtual Machines on Windows Azure

• Integrating Active Directory into Windows Azure Virtual Machines