The cloud is becoming popular because people like me are lazy as hell.
I use lync online:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ly...103789571.aspx
Its 2$ per user per month, I switched to it because it is simply unbeatable price and effort wise.
In comparison, if I want to install lync myself, I own a license, but just look at the install guide:
http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com...-2012-9d6fe954
Nearly 200 pages and its "step by step for everyone"!
I can't even be bothered to run my own build server now, between a custom server for debugging python scripts and visual studio online, all my programming is going into the cloud. Using an image in Amazon EC2 and paying by the hour is so much easier than setting up my own server to manage it.
Now the thing is, do I bother to care if Microsoft or Amazon is reading my code. After all, I would love it if they can fix it for me!
The cloud is very attractive for small scale users, since rolling out your own infrastructure is too damned difficult (go read that Lync setup guide, thats why full time lync admins get paid good money).
Am I concerned about my code? You could say that, but at this point, i really can't care less, the convenience the cloud provides makes it a good choice for me.
Now its obvious that the cloud is really, really effective and a good choice for small users. After all, industrial espionage isn't really a concern for small home users.
One thing that is very interesting is the rise of private clouds, like the IBM cloud deployments:
http://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/u...ate-cloud.html
Now the question is, would you trust someone that you know better to run your cloud deployment? Would you feel safer if it was a "Subsim cloud" instead of Amazon EC2?
PS: speculating on Windows 10 already? Come on man, Windows 8.1 is barely out and you are speculating 2 versions ahead