UPDATED 12:30 EST / JULY 19 2011

The launch of Windows Azure is announced at the 2008 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles

The launch of Windows Azure, with its logo shown on a screen, is announced by Chief Software Architect at Microsoft Ray Ozzie at the 2008 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles October 27, 2008. Windows Azure is the cloud-based service foundation underlying its Azure Services Platform. REUTERS/Fred Prouser (UNITED STATES)