Microsoft provides a sneak peek at its new Azure Cloud Console

In a post on the Azure blog, Microsoft previewed a look at the upcoming Azure Cloud Console. Azure users are likely familiar with the Azure portal, but Microsoft wants to provide a more useful interface experience with the Azure Cloud Console.

Traditionally, cloud interfaces are offered via a web-based graphical interface, much like Azure portal, or via a command line terminal interface. In both instances, these types of interfaces are useful, depending on their uses, but Microsoft found that many Azure users use both interfaces to manage their Azure applications. Switching between these interfaces also takes some time and delays productivity and efficiency. Thus, Microsoft decided to create the Azure Cloud Console.

The Azure Cloud Console is an integrated interface that allows users to build their applications on Azure using both graphical and command-line tools. Today, Microsoft is giving a preview of the Azure Cloud Console in action, take a look at these two video examples:

Azure Cloud Console: Deploy a VM

Azure Cloud Console: GIT

At launch, Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Console will offer three key features:

• Automatic authentication to the command line tools from your existing web login
• All Azure command line tools, as well as relevant command line utilities pre-installed
• Personalized, persistent work space that preserves your code, configuration and activity across cloud shell sessions

If you are willing to test and give feedback on Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Console, you can sign up here. Azure Cloud Console should be available via general availability in the next few months.