Today the Azure team released SDK 1.3 and the updated tools for Visual Studio.
Download the SDK here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=7a1089b6-4050-4307-86c4-9dadaa5ed018
New for version 1.3:
- Virtual Machine (VM) Role (Beta):Allows you to create a custom VHD image using Windows Server 2008 R2 and host it in the cloud.
- Remote Desktop Access: Enables connecting to individual service instances using a Remote Desktop client.
- Full IIS Support in a Web role: Enables hosting Windows Azure web roles in a IIS hosting environment.
- Elevated Privileges: Enables performing tasks with elevated privileges within a service instance.
- Virtual Network (CTP): Enables support for Windows Azure Connect, which provides IP-level connectivity between on-premises and Windows Azure resources.
- Diagnostics: Enhancements to Windows Azure Diagnostics enable collection of diagnostics data in more error conditions.
- Networking Enhancements: Enables roles to restrict inter-role traffic, fixed ports on InputEndpoints.
- Performance Improvement: Significant performance improvement local machine deployment.