Microsoft fielded a beta of Popfly back in 2007, at the height of the Web 2.0 mashup craze. Popfly was designed to allow non-professional programmers and hobbyists to build mash-ups, gadgets, Web sites and applications using pre-built “blocks.” There were tens of these Web-programming blocks from which Popfly users could choose, including Flickr, Windows Live Spaces, Virtual Earth and news service blocks.

A note on the Popfly beta site confirms the service will be shut down next month:

“Thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, on August 24th, 2009, the Popfly service will be discontinued, all resources will be taken down, and access to your Popfly account, including games and mashups, will cease.”

In a July 16 note from the Popfly team on its blog, Microsoft officials are advising those who still interested in “express(ing) your creativity and pursuing a path to software development” to check out other Microsoft tools and products, like Microsoft XNA, Microsoft Kodu and Microsoft’s Web Platform Installer.