Microsoft Microsoft’s Azure Quantum, a public cloud ecosystem for building quantum computing applications, is now available for use in a public preview phase. Launched February 1, the Azure Quantum cloud service is available for a free trial. Developers, integrators, researchers, and others can use the platform to build solutions leveraging Microsoft and partner tools in a trusted public cloud. Users can access a network of quantum researchers and developers, a resource library, and self-service or tailored development programs. A key component of the platform is Microsoft’s open source Quantum Development Kit with the Q# language for quantum programming. Microsoft’s Quantum Intermediate Representation (QIR) is featured as a common open source interface between languages and target quantum computation platforms. Microsoft partners Honeywell Quantum Solutions and IonQ are providing quantum computing hardware.