14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft's latest move related to its cloud operating system is designed to position the platform as a global service. In this regard, the Redmond company announced that Windows Azure would be migrated to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The Cloud platform that the software giant introduced at the end of October 2008 currently relies on Pacific Standard Time (PST), but this will no longer be the case. Microsoft indicated that the change would be made as soon as possible, and that developers with applications using local time would potentially witness breaks in functionality.
“If your application running in Windows Azure relies on local time, you will be impacted by the migration to UTC. Here are a few examples of potential issues: gaps may occur in event logs if local timestamps are used; user interfaces that depend on local timestamps may show different results; local timestamps stored by your application may be interpreted differently after the changeover. Many applications have already been designed to rely only on UTC time. These applications should be unaffected,” a member of the Windows Azure team stated.
Microsoft is committed to finalize the PST to UTC migration for Windows Azure in the next few weeks, but the company failed to deliver an actual time table. As such, the company is simply providing a heads up for developers already taking advantage of Windows Azure for Cloud-based applications and services. The deadline for Windows Azure's transition to universal time will be based on Microsoft internal testing, as well as feedback from the community currently testing the Cloud operating system.
“Windows Azure is a global service. To ensure that applications behave the same way regardless of their physical location, it’s important that Windows Azure have a consistent time zone across all geographies. UTC is a natural choice given our global customer base, and UTC is not subject to Daylight Saving Time (and the associated risk of bugs),” the Windows Azure team representative added.