The World’s Premier Student Technology Competition

Imagine Cup 2009

"I wish there had been an Imagine Cup when I was growing up. It gets people involved in seeing that software is changing the world."

--Bill Gates
Chairman, Microsoft Corp

Now in its 5th year in Sri Lanka, the Imagine Cup, the World's Premier Student Technology Competition,  is designed to encourage the  world's   most talented software designers, programmers, game developers, photographers and filmmakers to tackle the toughest problems facing the world today.

Big IT giant

Over the last four decades computers and the internet have changed the way we live, study, work and have fun. Big IT giants like Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and IBM have been the key drivers of this remarkable change of life. Amazingly this change has been revolving around a box of hardware which we call a Personal Computer and a bunch of software which has a vast spectrum starting from Operating Systems, Applications, Services, Games, and many more. During this time everything surrounding the computer world also evolved, in some occasions to unbelievable heights I must add. Storage capacities have gone up from couple of megabytes to several terabytes. Computer Processor speed have gone up from several megahertz (MHz) to couple of gigahertz (GHz). Big old computers have turned into small sleek looking handheld devices. Without a doubt this evolution will continue ... While all these happenings, in case if you are wondering what’s next big things in the dynamic world of IT, the next big change is just around the corner ... Cloud Computing is what it is called. Cloud computing is Internet based development and use of computer technology. In other words It is a style of computing in which resources are provided “as a service” over the Internet to users who need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them. All the technology giants are doing their part to prepare for this next big step. All of them have different approaches and plans for the cloud. Over the past 30 years Microsoft Corporation has been the key in bringing computing to the general public. Over a billion people use Microsoft tools and technologies around the world today. Stepping into the ‘next’ big revolution to provide a better connected experience to the existing users and to connect more people from around the world Microsoft built Windows Live, their solution for the Cloud Computing era.

Windows Live platform from Microsoft consists of many services offering users several useful, educational fun to use services. Among them the most prominent once are Spaces, Messenger, SkyDrive, Photos, Writer, Mesh, Office Live Workspaces etc, … and the list goes on with many more services. In this article you’ll find more details about these.