In an across-the-board keynote address at Microsoft's 20th annual TechEd North America conference on Monday, Satya Nadella - president of Microsoft Server and Tools Business - chiefly tried to attract the attention of IT managers to the company's Windows operating system, pitching it as the best OS for building clouds.

The keynote address clearly underscored Microsoft's attempts to position Windows Server 2012, Windows Azure and server-side products as the most notable components of what, according to the company, will be "the era of the cloud OS."

Pointing out that cloud operating system is the "core capability," Nadella said during the keynote address that Microsoft intended ensuring that it can do "a great job of building it out comprehensively and consistently," so as to facilitate the users in ushering in the cloud OS era.

Noting that the upcoming Windows Server 2012 platform - scheduled for release this autumn - was central to the cloud OS, Nadella disclosed Microsoft's plans to shift its software systems vitally around cloud, including latest changes to the Azure platform and now infrastructure cloud as well as an update to the InTune management suite.

With Microsoft leaving the mention of Windows 8 client version for the Tuesday keynote, Nadella's keynote address chiefly highlighted Windows Server 2012 as the must-have OS for cloud use; attempting to lure the conference's audience of nearly 10,000 developers with demos and descriptions which largely unfolded the `convenience' factor linked to the creation of cloud apps in the future.