Formed in June 2009 with the goal of developing new approaches to high-performance computing hardware and software, the Microsoft's new eXtreme Computing Group's (XCG) research activities span a variety of cutting-edge computing efforts: security, cryptography, operating-system design, parallel-programming models, cloud software, data center architectures, specialty hardware accelerators, and quantum computing.

By unifying research and incubation efforts, the group will help develop new approaches to building hardware and software, says Dan Reed, corporate vice president of XCG. “Our objective is to look at strategic needs and opportunities that cut across product groups and find technology solutions to those problems,” said Mr. Reed.

XCG will tackle things such as cryptography and parallel-programming models with rapid, large-scale prototyping and testing. That testing will help it transfer new technologies to Microsoft partners and product teams.

Mr. Reed predicts that there will be a huge set of technology changes on the hardware level - and even more to systems software and next-generation applications. Multicore issues will affect Windows and other business products, and XCG is helping to prepare those product teams to cope with the new reality.

The group operates on a five- to seven-year time horizon, and, along the way, it will spin off technologies that have shorter-term significance, added Reed.

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