Microsoft has released a new version of the Azure SDK and Azure Tools for Visual Studio.  This has been labeled as the March 2009 CTP.  To me, the most exciting update is the ability to now run full trust within the cloud rather than being restricted to medium trust.  Unfortunately, it appears as though the CTP still does not work completely on Windows 7.  From what I have been told, Windows 7 problem isn’t likely to get resolved until the next beta of Windows 7.  It is actually a bug in Windows 7 rather than a problem with the Azure CTP.

At any rate, here is the complete release:

Greetings from the Azure Services Platform Team,

We are excited to announce that we have released an update to the Windows® Azure™ SDK and Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio®. These latest releases are available here:

• Install both the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio and SDK: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=128752
• Install the Windows Azure SDK alone: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=130232

What’s new in Windows Azure SDK

• Support for developing Managed Full Trust applications. It also provides support for Native Code via PInvokes and spawning native processes.
• Support for developing FastCGI applications, including support for rewrite rules via URL Rewrite Module.
• Improved support for the integration of development storage with Visual Studio, including enhanced performance and support for SQL Server (only local instance).

What’s new in Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio

• Combined installer includes the Windows Azure SDK
• Addressed top customer bugs
• Native Code Debugging
• Update Notification of future releases
• FastCGI template

We will continue to release updates to Windows Azure and its tools based on your feedback. Please visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=130231 to share your Windows Azure experiences.

Thank you for your continued interest.

Sincerely,
Azure Services Platform Team