In November we released version 1.6 of the Windows Azure SDK. Along with that we released an upgrade to the Visual Studio tooling. You can download them both here. Of course you can see my prior post on how to sign up for a free trial.
The new tooling makes publishing to Windows Azure super easy. VS lets you download a settings file from your subscription. This file includes all the information VS needs to push out bits to your cloud. No more alt-tabbing like a tango dancer back and forth from VS and the dev portal to copy certificates, upload stuff, get your subscription id, etc. Very, very easy.
This was really the first little glimpse at how the new focus on making developing for Windows Azure easier is fruitful.
Enjoy this light snack of a video. Fairly informal.