The document-editing mode in the new Eduify student writing application.

Microsoft will try to make the case for Windows Azure at its Mix conference in Las Vegas this week by showing some of the stuff people are building with the preview of the cloud-computing system. Exhibit No. 1: Eduify, an online writing application for students.

Eduify was launched as a public beta today. Intended for high-school and college students, it's build on Windows Azure -- using Microsoft's infrastructure to streamline the process of researching, writing, editing and storing papers online.

Microsoft unveiled Windows Azure last fall, making the Redmond company the latest entrant in a market where another Seattle-area tech giant, Amazon.com, has jumped out to an early lead. Cloud computing lets software developers create and offer applications online by giving them access to the worldwide networks of data centers operated by Microsoft, Amazon, Google and others.

This weekend brought another reminder of one of the down sides of cloud computing, with the Windows Azure preview suffering a 22-hour outage. It wasn't good timing for Microsoft, which will be tring to drum up new interest in Azure at Mix. The annual conference focuses on the company's technologies for Web developers and designers.

Internet startups represent a key battleground for the big cloud computing providers. Microsoft is courting them through its BizSpark program, which provides free access to the company's software. That includes access to the Windows Azure preview.

That's how Eduify got on board. The online program, from San Francisco-based startup RSWP Inc., lets students pull in research from different sources and interact with friends as they write their papers inside a browser. Among other features, it automatically generates a bibliography. The browser-based program uses Facebook Connect to let users collaborate with friends.

Students will also be able to access Eduify via mobile phones.

There will ultimately be a charge for Eduify's additional "expert help" with document editing and proofreading. The idea is that a student who finishes a paper at 2 a.m. could submit it for editing and get something back before class begins.

The overall concept is to "give students the tools to write better and research faster," said Dan Merritts, Eduify's vice president of marketing.

Eduify is an example of a company betting on "a vision of intelligent client devices being central to a set of core cloud services," said Dan'l Lewin, Microsoft corporate vice president of strategic and emerging business development.

It's expected to ultimately take advantage of Azure's integration of Windows Live Messenger and Live Mesh document synchronization service, as well. The BizSpark program aside, the access to those services is one reason Eduify decided to go with Windows Azure, Merrits said. Another reason was the development system, which replicates the cloud environment on the desktop to help developers build their online applications.

Merritts acknowledged that Eduify was affected by Windows Azure's weekend outage, just a few days before the launch of the Eduify beta, but he pointed out that Azure is still a technology preview, with some complications to be expected.