And, as Sanders said, Linux and open-source are "where the customers are." So, what choices does Microsoft offer corporate Linux users on Azure? Well, first you can bring your own Linux distribution.

For the first time, Microsoft has released its own Linux kernel in a new Linux-based product: Azure Sphere.

Microsoft boasted of its Azure datacenter support for open source software this week, while also announcing that Red Hat Enterprise Linux images are now available from the Azure Marketplace.

The product strategy calls for gradually bringing the Windows and Linux/Unix access-control products that each firm has separately offered under a common management platform and console.