Some Azure signup challenges

Yesterday I blogged that MSDN subscribers got an Azure subscription for free. Today, I decided to activate an Azure subscription and take the first small steps into the cloud.

The ancient browser problem

I've been using Opera as my primary browser for more than ten years now. Why am I telling you this? Well, during the signup process for the Azure subscription:

Oh, the horror. I can't remember the last time I had to tell Opera to identify as another browser. Fortunately, under "Site Preferences" I could tell Opera to "Mask as Firefox" and it was all well... Come on guys. It's the year 2011. I cannot believe that this should still be a problem.

A more modern browser problem
But I hadn't left the rough patch just yet.

Apparently Microsoft are trying to frame a page that's served with the X-Frames-Options HTTP header I recently blogged about here and here. And I'm running an updated browser supporting X-Frames-Options. Opening the page in a new window enabled me stumble on through the signup process.

The wait

A confirmation e-mail message will be sent within 24 hours to your Windows Live ID.

Fortunately, it took only about 10 to 15 minutes before I received my confirmation. 

The outdated user

There are system requirements for the Windows Azure SDK. My XP machine does not fulfill these requirements. I'll soon be out for a long walk.