The company said the updated tools fix bugs and speed performance, as well as add better integration with Visual Studio and other tweaks.

Microsoft unveiled Azure and offered up the first community technology preview version of its tools at the Professional Developers Conference in October.

"Microsoft will continue to release updates to the Windows Azure SDK based on feedback from developers," the company said in a statement.

In a December interview, server and tools unit President Bob Muglia said that developers are mostly kicking the tires on Azure right now, but said that some services would go into production later this year.