Hi Chris,

Have you seen our current news feed from the Associated Press? If not, you can find an overview here: http://www.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/PartnerDetails.aspx?PartnerId=12884901889&ProductId=12884902241&CurrentTab=1.

You can explore the dataset by clicking the big orange “Trial” button on the right side of the page. This will take you to the Dallas Account and Subscription Management portal, where you’ll be asked to accept AP’s End User License Agreement. Once you do, you’ll be subscribed to the dataset and able to explore what it offers.

If you don’t already have a Dallas account, you’ll need a Live ID and a Dallas invitation code to create one. If you don’t already have a Dallas invitation code, you can request one at dinvite@microsoft.com.

Back to your suggestion… Is this what you had in mind?

Thanks!

We have several improvements around encryption, including data at rest and during use. Today I don’t have a timeframe that I can share.

We’re working on ways to provide free and low cost onramps for developers, and expect to make more announcements in 2011. Today, there are already multiple ways for developers to get onto Azure cost effectively:

Free Introductory Offer – provides a limited monthly quota of Azure resources at no cost, with standard rates applying above those thresholds: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/offers/

MSDN Premium, Ultimate, and BizSpark Subscription Benefit – provides significantly higher free quotas of Azure resources to MSDN subscribers for several months: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/ee461076.aspx

Cloud Essentials for Partners – provides free/low cost access to Azure resources to members of the Microsoft Partner Network. http://www.microsoftcloudpartner.com/

This is now on the SQL Azure roadmap, though delivery will be post CY12.