Microsoft Corp. is placing a long-term bet on robots with the official release today of a software development system for programming the machines.

The new Microsoft Robotics Studio, released in preliminary form earlier this year, marks the company's entrance into a segment of the computer industry that it and others expect to grow significantly.

Microsoft said Tuesday that more than 30 software and hardware companies have signed on to make their technology work with the new system and offer products compatible with it. The company says it logged more than 100,000 downloads of the free preview.

The release of the finished version means that companies can now use Microsoft Robotics Studio in the development of commercial robotics products.

Microsoft says it is aiming to provide a common software development system for programming robots in industrial, home and academic settings. Microsoft Robotics Studio works on Windows-based computers, but the resulting programs can be used in robots running a number of different operating systems.

Programmers now often develop specialized software for use in one particular type of robot. In contrast, Tandy Trower, general manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group, demonstrated Tuesday how to use Microsoft Robotics Studio to create one program that could control multiple robots from different companies, including Lego and iRobot.

"We see a very bright future for this area," Trower said.

The system is free for academic and other non-commercial use. For commercial use, Microsoft will license the system for $399 per software developer. Each developer license allows a company to distribute programs created in Microsoft Robotics Studio in up to 200 machines, and companies can buy more licenses as needed.

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