When it comes to debugging hard-to-diagnose software and operating-system problems, there is no set recipe. Rather debugging is all about "having the right tools and knowing how to use them," advised Microsoft technical fellow Mark Russinovich at the close of the Microsoft TechEd conference, held this week in Atlanta.

Microsoft next month will release a set of new components to its Azure AppFabric suite of middleware cloud services that should make it easier for administrators to create and manage cloud applications.

Microsoft is building two new additions to its .Net framework that should make it much easier for programmers to utilize all the cores of a multicore processor.

Hoping to ease customers' migration to the cloud, NetApp has released a reference architecture for deploying its storage systems as part of a Microsoft Hyper-V cloud system.

Microsoft kicked off its annual TechEd conference Monday much the way it did last year's, heavily touting cloud computing as a more efficient way for businesses to run IT operations. This year, however, company executives provided more details about how organizations can actually use cloud computing day-to-day.

Hoping to simplify the ornery task of load balancing Microsoft Exchange servers, Kemp Technologies has released a virtual machine-based version of its Exchange 2010 application delivery controller, called Virtual LoadMaster Exchange (VLM-Exchange).

Cloud computing will once again be a major theme for this year's Microsoft Tech Ed conference, according to the company. And attendees seem to be interested in finding out how the cloud can be used in conjunction with their own operations.