The software giant has created the image to show how the city's residents will live in 25 years time, saying people will no longer put their job first as they harness the capabilities of a "mobile" world, allowing them to work from home, cut down on commuting and reject 2008's nine-to-five existence.

It comes as Microsoft plans to make the Capital the home of its Scottish headquarters with a move to the city centre Waverley Gate development. While the move has been welcomed, today it was suggested the firm should stick to creating technology, not town planning.

By 2033, Microsoft says people will be more time to enjoy the Capital and its attractions, encouraging planners to introduce better green spaces and hot-spots for residents as they free up more of their lives for pleasure, not work.

The firm's business manager James McCarthy said: "Edinburgh is set to change dramatically over the next 25 years as remote working evolves and employees embrace the changes to come.

"This vision of Edinburgh shows the landscape is being significantly redrawn to accommodate its mobile revolution and continued development into a financial hub for Europe."

While insisting this illustrative research is more to "tease the imagination" of the public than offer an exact depiction of how Microsoft predicts Edinburgh will evolve, Mr McCarthy stresses the challenges of the age will undoubtedly change the Capital's skyline.

The company predicts Edinburgh will emerge even more as a hub for financial services, seeing office space decline due to mobile technology, while business areas become more concentrated.

Wireless business centres could dominate Queen Street Gardens as people chose to work remotely from collective hubs or parks, hotels and their homes.

Further thoughts for Edinburgh show a reduction in commuter travel to the city and subsequently fewer railway lines and roads and more walkways.

Green spaces will increase and renewable energy will be invested in – including eco-friendly wind turbines on the Capital's landmark Salisbury Crags.

In 2033, the First Minister could be homeless as planners bulldoze Charlotte Square and Bute House to make way for increased green space.

Mr McCarthy said: "We're not suggesting the First Minister should lose his or her house, but it may be that in the future they will chose to live somewhere else.

"It could be that he or she could live in their constituency, but also do the best for Scotland. Some people will be drawn to live in the city, but for someone like the First Minister, there could be a choice."

While business leaders, architects and city council leaders said they enjoyed the images released by Microsoft, they dismissed many of the more unusual suggestions they contained.

Architect Adrian Welch said: "The chance of getting planning permission for wind turbines on Salisbury Crags is as likely as Scotland getting a decent summer.

"More seriously, making predictions about the future is always going to be hit and miss.

"I doubt we would have fewer roads and railways due to reduced commuting, yet wireless business hubs caught my eye, but I also can't imagine these getting permission.

"Human interaction of the workplace can't be fully replicated remotely by digital means, so the idea of an office hub that combines leisure facilities with areas for workers to meet briefly could be a valid one."

Business leaders across the capital, who may reap the benefits of having the global company on their doorstep, said they looked forward to the company's predictions for the Capital becoming a reality.

David Watt, director of the Institute of Directors, said: "I hope we will be working more at home.

"Microsoft is good at creating technology, but unfortunately we are not always very successful at using it well."

City leader Jenny Dawe hinted that some of the more ambitious proposals may struggle to gain planning permission.

She said: "By 2033, I would expect Edinburgh to have been recognised for many years as an exemplar of a dynamic capital city at the core of a successful, sustainable city region as renowned for its breathtaking built environment and nurturing of its heritage as it is for its economic and cultural success.

"Edinburgh's iconic city is already a major draw for visitors. The council and its partners have to ensure that this continues to be case.

"Future development must respect and enhance the city's history and heritage."

A spokesman for the First Minister said confidence was shared in Edinburgh being a renewable energy capital of the future, but hopefully "not be at the expense of the First Minister's accommodation".

IDEAS TO GO CRAZY OVER

OF course, there have been other crazy plans for Edinburgh.

In 1995, it was proposed that a monument should be created in memory of the soon-to-be-defunct Edinburgh District Council.

The council's property services director Stewart Henderson suggested spending £40,000 on a design competition for the monument, but councillors rushed forward to condemn the idea as a waste of money, Mr Henderson was branded a "bampot" and the idea was swiftly ditched.

In 2002, former newspaper editor Harry Reid, writing in a book on the future of the Church of Scotland, suggested that a gigantic religious monument be built on top of Arthur's Seat, bringing comparisons with the 125-feet high statue of Christ above Rio de Janeiro.

In 2004, Edinburgh-based architects Sutherland Hussey suggested turning Princes Street Gardens back into a loch to act as a seaplane runway, installing landing pads in the city centre for vertical take-off aircraft and running cable cars up to Edinburgh Castle. The plans, created for an exhibition in Glasgow, were branded "idiotic" by some critics.

In February 2005, a proposal was submitted to Edinburgh Council to install a wind turbine on Salisbury Crags, to test conditions with a view to creating a fully-fledged wind farm.

The proposal turned out to be a hoax.

In 2008, the Evening News reported that a multi-million pound athletics arena was to be built at Caltongate, just off the Royal Mile. However, eagle-eyed readers spotted that the story was published on April 1 and the plans mysteriously never came to fruition.