Yes, I've used the Azure free trial successfully but have not been able to do the Google trial.
Can you provide a link to this "official timeline" as it is not something that I remember seeing? This post is my original work with ideas and suggestions sourced from the community.
The official whitepaper is currently being updated. See here:
https://steemit.com/gridcoin/@jringo/your-vision-for-gridcoin-tell-us