Skytap is scheduled to flip the switch today on the widgetry that will let developers and enterprise IT departments compatibility-test their Windows 7 applications in its cloud lab.
Users will be able to spin up a virtual sandbox, see if their apps run right on the new operating system and iron out any kinks ahead of 7 hitting the broad market at the end of October.
For a limited time the widgetry will cost $250 a month for 1,000 hours of testing time, a price that includes team access to Skytap’s Virtual Lab SaaS application and Windows 7 virtual machine templates.
The thousand hours might be enough for a single app of relative complexity, senior director of product marketing Ian Knox ventured.
Skytap expects to be alone in such an offering. Other clouds like Amazon aren’t set up to handle the client side, Knox said.
Microsoft, which wants to avoid any of the compatibility screw-ups that marred Vista at all costs, is expected to tout the Skytap service to its developer base.
