Last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was in Paris and London hinting about a new operating system. Daily, we ferret out more details on this under cover project.

In the past, it has gone under Microsoft's code names Red Dog and Mojave. Some companies refer to Software as a Service (SaaS), while others nick name it mesh computing or cloud computing. Last week, Ballmer was calling it Windows Cloud.

Both Microsoft and Google have major plans for increased use of data centers. Google plans to float their data centers in the ocean using patented technology. Google's patent application says their data centers would be powered by natural energy derived from wave motion via tide-powered generators and cooled by sea-water cooling units.

Microsoft's plans have been rumored for nearly three years. A lot of those rumors are based around this email from Ray Ozzie, CTO, to the Executive Staff. Ballmer was more specific when he was in Paris. He said that one of the big areas of innovation will be the way the software itself gets transformed in an environment where we can assume high-speed Internet. Microsoft will call that the software plus services revolution.

Ballmer came very close to laying out all their plans. The ideas are based on distributed computing where all devices are used intelligently, and all devices run code, but all devices are managed centrally. The software manages itself so the users and the IT managers of the world are not doing nearly as much work as they do today in the management and administration of software.

Microsoft's strategy is to build a symmetric stack based on Windows Server, Windows Cloud, and Active Directory with Live IDs as an identity system in the Internet. They are taking today's SQL Server and building an SQL Server for the cloud. They now have a CRM that runs on the desktop, next step is a CRM running in the cloud environment. Today, Microsoft has SharePoint with a soon-to-arrive version of SharePoint in the cloud. There now is Exchange on the desktop and Exchange will be ported to the cloud platform.

As we get closer to our trip to Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles at the end of October, we will disclose more pieces of Microsoft's new environment, including photos.

Keep watching IT Examiner for some intriguing insights, that no one else has yet. X