For Customers and Partners, the following summary of resources will support the evaluation of Windows Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS):
Core Resources
90 Day Free Trial - we can confirm the Preview Period in support of the new release of Windows Azure is now available, which enables you to evaluate the new Virtual Machines/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
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
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
Windows Azure Training Kit http://windowsazure-trainingkit.github.com/
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/
Main Site for Windows Azure http://www.windowsazure.com/
Recent Events (and Video Recordings)
//build/ Conference at Microsoft Campus, October 31, 2012
Search “Azure build 2012” at http://channel9.msdn.com/ for more Windows Azure Sessions
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-012 Windows Azure Overview, Scott Guthrie
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-058 Windows Azure Internals, Mark Russinovich
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-011 Introduction to Windows Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Mark Russinovich
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-042 Windows Azure Active Directory: enabling single sign on and directory services for cloud SaaS apps Vittorio Bertocci
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-024 Developing for Windows Azure Web Sites and SharePoint Online, Yochay Kiriaty and Thomas Mechelke
Meet Windows Azure, June 7, 2012
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/windowsazure/meet2012sf/KEY Meet Windows Azure Keynote, Scott Guthrie
TechEd Europe, June 2012
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Europe/2012/KEY01 TechEd Europe Keynote with Brad Anderson and Jason Zander
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Europe/2012/AZR302 Windows Azure Internals, Mark Russinovich
http://channel9.msdn.com/events/TechEd/Europe/2012/AZR313 Deep Dive into Running Virtual Machines on Windows Azure, Vijay Rajagopalan,
TechEd Orlando, June 2012
Keynotes http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/KEY01 Satya Nadella Keynote – TechEd 2012 Orlando, June 11, 2012 (34 minute – Virtual Machines, 47 minute – Applications)
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/FDN05 Meet the New Windows Azure, Scott Guthrie – TechEd 2012 Orlando, June 11, 2012
Windows Azure Virtual Machines, Networking, and Hybrid
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR302 Windows Azure Internals, Mark Russinovich
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR209 Windows Azure Virtual Machines and Virtual Networks, Mark Russinovich
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR201 Windows Azure IaaS and How It Works, Corey Sanders
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR313 Deep Dive into Windows Azure Virtual Machines: From the Cloud Vendor and Enterprise Perspective, Vijay Rajagopalan
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR307 Linux on Windows Azure IaaS with Partner Demos, Tad Brockway
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR202 An Overview of Managing Applications, Services, and Virtual Machines in Windows Azure, Karandeep Anand
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR319 Monitoring and Managing Your Windows Azure Applications and Services, Chandrika Shankarnarayan
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR304 Overview of Windows Azure Networking Features, Ganesh Srinivasan
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR316 Deep Dive: Extending Enterprise Networks to Windows Azure - Project "Brooklyn", Ganesh Srinivasan
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR204 Hybrid Will Rule: Options to Connect, Extend and Integrate Applications in Your Data Center and Windows Azure, Yousef Khalidi
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR203 Business Continuity in the Windows Azure Cloud, Yousef Khalidi
Windows Azure Blogs http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/
Forrester Research Blogs and Key Publications
Microsoft Blog
Windows Azure Virtual Machines Michael Washam, Senior Technical Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation, June 8, 2012