List of Microsoft codenames

Microsoft codenames are the codenames given by Microsoft to products it has in development, before these products are given the names by which they appear on store shelves. Many of these products (new versions of Windows in particular) are of major significance to the IT community, and so the terms are often widely used in discussions prior to the official release. Microsoft usually does not announce a final name until shortly before the product is publicly available. It is not uncommon for Microsoft to reuse codenames a few years after a previous usage has been abandoned.

There has been some suggestion that Microsoft may move towards defining the real name of their upcoming products earlier in the product development lifecycle so as to avoid needing product codenames.

Operating systems

Windows 3.1x and 9x

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes	Ref
Janus	N/A	Windows 3.1	N/A
Sparta, Winball	Windows Plus	Windows for Workgroups 3.1	Windows 3.1 (16-bit) with enhanced networking; designed to work particularly well as a client with the new Windows NT.
Snowball	Windows for Workgroups 3.10	Windows for Workgroups 3.11	Although this release was still 16-bit Windows, it included a 32-bit TCP/IP stack (when running on compatible hardware). Along with Win32s, this was one of the first steps towards moving the Windows desktop to a 32-bit code base.
Chicago	Windows 4.0	Windows 95	For codenames of some of the internal components of Windows 95, see "Jaguar", "Cougar", "Panther" and "Stimpy" under § OS components.
Detroit	Windows 4.1	Windows 95 OSR 2	Named after Detroit, Michigan. A writer for Maximum PC suggested that "Detroit" and other Windows 95-era names were answers to the question posed by Microsoft's "Where do you want to go today?" marketing campaign.
Nashville	Windows 96	N/A	Cancelled upgrade for Windows 95; sometimes referred to in the press as Windows 96. Codename was reused for Internet Explorer 4.0 and Windows Desktop Update which incorporated many of the technologies planned for Nashville.
Memphis	Windows 97, Windows 4.1	Windows 98
Millennium	Windows 4.9	Windows ME	ME stands for Millennium Edition.

Windows NT family

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes
Razzle	NT OS/2	Windows NT
Daytona	N/A	Windows NT 3.5	Named after the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
SUR (Shell Update Release), Cairo	N/A	Windows NT 4.0	Microsoft originally planned for NT 4.0 to be just a simple "Shell Update Release" to integrate the Windows 95 GUI with Windows NT 3.51's kernel.
Wolfpack	N/A	Microsoft Cluster Server
Janus	N/A	Windows 2000 64-bit	Windows 2000 itself did not have a codename because, according to Dave Thompson of Windows NT team, "Jim Allchin didn't like codenames".
Impala	N/A	Windows NT 4.0 Embedded
Neptune	Microsoft Neptune	Dropped	Planned consumer version of Windows 2000, merged with Odyssey to form Whistler.
Odyssey	N/A	Dropped	Planned successor to Windows 2000 for business customers, merged with Neptune to form Whistler.
Whistler	N/A	Windows XP	Named after Whistler, British Columbia, where design retreats were held.
Mantis	N/A	Windows XP Embedded	Named after the Mantis shrimp
Freestyle	N/A	Windows XP Media Center Edition
Harmony	N/A	Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004
Symphony	N/A	Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Emerald	N/A	Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2
Diamond	N/A	Windows Media Center	Included in Windows Vista
Springboard	N/A	N/A	Set of enhanced security features, included in Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Lonestar	N/A	Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005
Whistler Server	Windows Server 2002, Windows .NET Server	Windows Server 2003
Bobcat	N/A	Windows Small Business Server 2003	Not to be confused with Microsoft Bob.
Eiger, Mönch	N/A	Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs	Mönch included additional features for use on mobile devices.
Longhorn	N/A	Windows Vista	Went gold (RTM) on 8 of November 2006. Named after the Longhorn Bar in the Whistler-Blackcomb resort; initially planned as an "interim release" between "Whistler" and "Blackcomb" (which was "Vienna" and is now Windows 7).
Q, Quattro	N/A	Windows Home Server
Vail	N/A	Windows Home Server 2011
Longhorn Server	N/A	Windows Server 2008
Cougar	N/A	Windows Small Business Server 2008
Centro	N/A	Windows Essential Business Server
Blackcomb	Vienna	Windows 7	Blackcomb is named after Blackcomb of Whistler-Blackcomb, BC, Canada. Vienna is the capital of Austria.
Fiji	Windows Vista Media Center Feature Pack 2008	Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008
Aurora	N/A	Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials
Quebec	N/A	Windows Embedded 2011
Windows Server 8	N/A	Windows Server 2012
Blue	N/A	Windows 8.1
Threshold	N/A	Windows 10	Named after a location seen in Halo: Combat Evolved, near which Installation O4 orbits.
Redstone	N/A	Windows 10 (2016 builds)	Named after a mineral seen in Minecraft.

Windows CE family

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Ref
Pegasus, Alder		Windows CE 1.0
Birch		Windows CE 2.0
Cedar		Windows CE 3.0
Talisker	Windows CE .NET	Windows CE 4.0
Jameson		Windows CE 4.1
McKendric		Windows CE 4.2
Macallan		Windows CE 5.0
Yamazaki	Windows CE 6.0	Windows Embedded CE 6.0
Chelan	Windows Embedded CE 7	Windows Embedded Compact 7

Windows Phone

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Ref
Photon	Windows Mobile 7 Series	Windows Phone 7
Mango		Windows Phone 7.5
Apollo		Windows Phone 8
Blue		Windows Phone 8.1

Others

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes	Ref
Midori		TBA	A managed code operating system being developed by Microsoft with joint effort of Microsoft Research.
Red Dog	Windows Cloud, Windows Azure	Microsoft Azure	Microsoft cloud services platform
Singularity		Singularity	Experimental operating system based on the Microsoft .NET platform, using software-based type safety as a replacement for hardware-based memory protection.
Tahiti		N/A	Supposedly a family of multi-core technologies including an operating system, applications and development tools designed to make better use of today's multi-core CPUs. Midori may be a part of this suite of new Microsoft technologies.
Zurich		.NET Services	Part of Microsoft Azure, Microsoft's cloud computing platform, that focuses on extended software development based on .NET Framework to the cloud.

OS components

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes	Ref
Code Integrity Rooting	Secure Startup	BitLocker	A security feature that checks and validates the integrity of Windows boot and system components.
Continuum	Tablet Mode	TBA	A Windows 10 feature that enables hybrid devices to switch between tablet mode and desktop mode. An immediately manifest effect is the Start screen getting maximized in tablet mode.
Cornerstone	Secure Startup	BitLocker	Full disk encryption feature introduced in Windows Vista and present in subsequent versions that utilizes the Trusted Platform Module to perform integrity checking prior to operating system startup.
Cortana		Cortana	An intelligent personal assistant included with Windows 10, named after an artificial intelligence character in Halo
Cougar		VMM32	32-bit kernel
Darwin	Microsoft Installer	Windows Installer	A Windows service and application programming interface for installing software on computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems
Frosting	Windows 95 codename	Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95
Hydra		Terminal Services, Windows Terminal Server	Terminal Server adds "multiheading" support to Windows (the ability to run multiple instances of the graphics subsystem), and the hydra is a mythological monster with multiple heads.
Jaguar		N/A	16-bit DOS kernel for Windows 95 based on MS-DOS 5.0, used by Windows 95 boot loader and compatibility layer.
Jupiter		Windows Runtime	A new application framework on Windows 8 used to create cross-platform "immersive" apps.
Monad	MSH, Microsoft Shell	Windows PowerShell	"Monads", according to philosopher Gottfried Leibniz's monadology, are the ultimate elements of the universe, individual percipient beings, and MSH is similarly composed of small, individual modules the user puts in interrelation.
Morro		Microsoft Security Essentials	MSE was codenamed after the Morro de São Paulo beach in Brazil.
O'Hare		Internet Explorer 1	Internet Explorer 1, first shipped in Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95: The codename O'Hare ties into the Chicago codename for Windows 95: O'Hare International Airport is the largest airport in the city of Chicago, Illinois — in Microsoft's words, "a point of departure to distant places from Chicago".
Panther		N/A	Cancelled. Panther was a 32-bit kernel based on Windows NT kernel.
Pinball		High Performance File System (HPFS)	"Pinball" is the nickname (as opposed to a codename) for HPFS because HPFS driver in Windows NT 3.5 is called PINBALL.SYS.
Piton		ReadyDrive	Feature introduced in Windows Vista to support hybrid drives
Protogon		ReFS	The successor of NTFS
Spartan		Microsoft Edge	Web browser for Windows 10 that does away with MSHTML rendering engine. Refers to Spartans in Halo.
Stimpy		Windows Shell	Applies to Windows 95 only.
Viridian		Hyper-V	Virtualization update for Windows Server 2008
WinFS		N/A	A cancelled data storage and management system project based on relational databases, first demonstrated in 2003 as an advanced storage subsystem for the Microsoft Windows, designed for persistence and management of structured, semi-structured as well as unstructured data.

Microsoft Servers

SQL Server family

Codename	Final name	Notes	Ref
SQLNT	SQL Server 4.21
SQL95	SQL Server 6.0
Hydra	SQL Server 6.5
Sphinx	SQL Server 7.0
Plato	OLAP Services 7.0	"OLAP Services" was later renamed Microsoft Analysis Services
Shiloh	SQL Server 2000	Version 8
Rosetta	Reporting Services in SQL Server 2000
Yukon	SQL Server 2005	Version 9
Picasso	Analysis Services in SQL Server 2005
Katmai / Akadia	SQL Server 2008	Version 10
Kilimanjaro	SQL Server 2008 R2	Version 10.5
Blue	SQL Server 2008 Report Designer 2.0	This is the standalone release of the tool for Reporting Services. It must not be confused with Report Builder 2.0.
Denali	SQL Server 2012	Version 11
Juneau	SQL Server Data Tools	Will be included in the next CTP of SQL Server "Denali"
Crescent	Power View	A data visualisation tool that will be included in SQL Server "Denali"
Hekaton	SQL Server In-Memory OLTP	In-memory database engine built into SQL Server 2014

Others

Codename	Final name	Ref
Hermes	Microsoft System Management Server 1.0
Catapult	Microsoft Proxy Server 1.0
Geneva	Active Directory Federation Services
Falcon	Microsoft Message Queue Server
Viper	Microsoft Transaction Server
Stirling	Microsoft Forefront Protection Suite

Developers tools

Visual Studio family

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes	Ref
Thunder		Visual Basic 1.0	The first version of Visual Basic. The standard dialogs and controls created by the Visual Basic runtime library all have "Thunder" as a prefix of their internal type names (for example, buttons are internally known as ThunderCommandButton).
Zamboni		Microsoft Visual C++ 4.1	After Zamboni, an ice resurfacing machine.
Boston		Microsoft Visual Studio 97	Named for Boston, Massachusetts
Aspen		Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0	Named after the popular ski destination Aspen, Colorado
Cassini Web Server		ASP.NET Development Server	The lightweight local Web server that is launched in Visual Studio in order to test Web projects
Hatteras	Visual Studio Team System's Source Control System	N/A	Named after the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina
Ocracoke	Visual Studio Team System load testing suite	N/A	Named after the Ocracoke Island Lighthouse on Ocracoke Island, also in North Carolina
Currituck	Team Foundation Work Item Tracking	N/A	Named after the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, North Carolina
Bodie	Team Foundation Server SDK	N/A	Named after the Bodie Island Lighthouse in North Carolina
Tuscany		Online version of Visual Studio.	Currently a research project
Phoenix		N/A	A Microsoft research software development kit
Eaglestone		Visual Studio Team Explorer Everywhere	This is the name given to the Teamprise suite Microsoft acquired. The product is now named Visual Studio Team Explorer Everywhere
KittyHawk		Visual Studio LightSwitch	RAD tool aimed at non-programmers
Rainier		Visual Studio .NET (2002)	Named for Mount Rainier, a volcanic mountain peak visible from the Seattle area (where Microsoft is based)
Everett		Visual Studio .NET 2003	Named after the town Everett, Washington in Washington state
Whidbey		Visual Studio 2005	Named after Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound
Orcas		Visual Studio 2008	Named after Orcas Island in the Puget Sound
Camano	Microsoft Test and Lab Manager	Microsoft Test Manager, a part of Visual Studio 2010 Test Professional, Premium and Ultimate editions	Named after Camano Island in the Puget Sound
Rosario		Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 (formerly Team System or Team Suite)
Cider		N/A	Visual Studio designer for building Windows Presentation Foundation applications, meant to be used by application developers
Monaco		TBA	In-browser IDE for Visual Studio

.NET Framework family

Codename	Final name	Notes	Ref
Lightning, Project 42	.NET Framework 1.0	Project Lightning was the original codename for the Common Language Runtime in 1997. The team was based in building 42, hence Project 42.
Roslyn	.NET Compiler Platform	Open-source project that exposes programmatic access to compilers via corresponding APIs
Project 7	N/A	Codename for early .NET academic recruiting program. 7 was a prime factor of 42, metaphorizing the relationship between Project 7 and Project 42 (see above).
Astoria	WCF Data Services	Enables the creation and consumption of OData services for the web
Fusion	N/A	.NET Framework subsystem for locating and loading assemblies, including GAC management
Atlas	ASP.NET AJAX	An implementation for ASP.NET of Ajax native to .NET Framework 2.0
Avalon	Windows Presentation Foundation	Graphical subsystem released as part of .NET Framework 3.0
Indigo	Windows Communication Foundation	An application programming interface (API) in .NET Framework for building connected, service-oriented applications
Jolt	Silverlight 1.0

Languages

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes	Ref
Clarity		Language Integrated Query (LINQ)	LINQ Language extensions to expose query syntax natively to languages such as Visual Basic .NET and C#
D		M	Modelling language
Jakarta		Visual J++
Metro		Microsoft Design language	A typography-based design language

Runtime libraries

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes	Ref
Godot		Microsoft Layer for Unicode	Named after the play Waiting for Godot (centered around the endless wait for a man named "Godot" who never comes), because it was felt to be long overdue.
Omega		JET Engine	ISAM database engine used in Microsoft Access (a desktop database management system) and made available as a generic database access API
Jasper		N/A	Jasper provides a data programming interface for rapid application development. When a Jasper program runs, Jasper connects to the database, determines the database schema, and generates corresponding data classes. This generation step does not occur in source files; rather, the data classes are compiled in memory and are only available for use within the running program.
Volta		N/A	A developer toolset for building multi-tier web applications

Gaming hardware

Codename	Preliminary name(s)	Final name	Notes	Ref
DirectX Box	DirectX Box	Xbox	The original codename for the Xbox.
Natal		Kinect	Motion sensitive control system.
Xenon	Xbox 2	Xbox 360
Durango		Xbox One	Successor to Xbox 360

Office software

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes	Ref
Albany		Microsoft Equipt	Microsoft's all-in-one, subscription-based service for office, communication, and security software
Bandit		Schedule+ 1.0	Microsoft's first Personal Information Manager
Budapest		Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access 2005
Bullet		Microsoft Mail 3.0	Microsoft's first LAN-based email product written in-house
Cirrus		Microsoft Access 1.0
CRM V1.0, Tsunami		Microsoft CRM 1.0	The platform was initially codenamed Tsunami, but once the decision was made to make it an actual product it was just changed to the initials as the initials were enough of a codename.
Danube Phase I		Microsoft CRM 1.2
Danube Phase II		Microsoft CRM 3
Kilimanjaro	Titan	Microsoft CRM 4	Was originally Kilimanjaro but changed to Titan, as Kilimanjaro was too difficult to spell
Deco		Microsoft PhotoDraw
Greenwich	Real-Time Communications Server 2003	Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003
Istanbul		Microsoft Office Communicator 2005
Maestro		Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005
Opus		Word for Windows v1.0 for Windows 2.x
Oslo	Microsoft BizTalk Server SOA, SQL Server Modeling CTP	N/A	Set of Service-oriented architecture (SOA) technologies
Ren, Stimpy	Wren	Microsoft Outlook	"Stimpy" was merged into "Ren", which later became "Wren". "Ren" and "Stimpy" are references to Ren and Stimpy, characters of an American animated television series. "Wren", a homophone of "Ren", is a reference to Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul's Cathedral.
Tahiti	Microsoft SharedView	N/A	A screen sharing tool which allows users to take over sessions and interact with remote desktops. No audio or conference facilities.
Tahoe		Sharepoint Portal Server 2001
Utopia		Microsoft Bob	Intended to be a user-friendly GUI

Other codenames

Codename	Preliminary name	Final name	Notes	Ref
Acropolis		N/A	Application framework for Smart Clients
Aero Diamond		N/A	Used during the development of Windows Vista to describe a set of advanced user interface effects for the Desktop Window Manager to be introduced after Vista's release
Alexandria		Zune Marketplace	An online music store
Argo		Zune	A digital media player
Atlanta		N/A	A cloud service that monitors Microsoft SQL Server deployments
Blackbird		N/A	An online content-authoring platform centered around the concept of distributed Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) and meant to be an alternative to HTML. The developer tools were originally released in beta and some titles were made available on MSDN before it was scrapped in favor of web development around ASP and ActiveX and the designer was refashioned into Visual InterDev.
Concur		N/A	Aims to: define higher-level abstractions (above "threads and locks"); for today's imperative languages; that evenly support the range of concurrency granularities; to let developers write correct and efficient concurrent applications; with lots of latent parallelism; that can be efficiently mapped to the user's.
Dallas		N/A	Aims to help discover, purchase and manage, premium data subscriptions in the Windows Azure platform
Dorado		Zune PC Client
Dryad		N/A	A Microsoft Research project which aims to design a platform to make developing applications for large-scale distributed computing easier.
HailStorm		.NET My Services	Collection of web services centered around the storage and retrieval of information. Cancelled before it could fully materialize.
Kumo		Bing	Microsoft's set of features improving Live Search search engine
Marvel		The Microsoft Network	The classic version of MSN, originally as a proprietary, "walled garden" online service
Media2Go		Windows Mobile software for Portable Media Centers	Platform built on Windows Mobile found on portable media players
Metro		XML Paper Specification (XPS)
Milan	Surface	Microsoft PixelSense	Table-top style computer with multi-touch touchscreen interface
Mira		N/A	Windows CE .NET-based technology for smart displays
Monaco		N/A	Music-making program similar to Apple GarageBand application
Origami		Ultra-Mobile PC
Palladium	Trusted Windows	N/A	Effort to develop a small, very secure operating environment within Windows, including curtained memory, trusted input, and graphics. Project renamed to Next-Generation Secure Computing Base, and was never fully implemented.
Softsled		N/A	Software based Windows Media Center Extender
Springfield	Microsoft Popfly	N/A	Website in Alpha testing stage providing mashup and webpages creation tools, with publishing as Rich Internet Application option
Wolverine		TCP/IP stack for Windows for Workgroups 3.11	Named after the Wolverine, a character from Marvel Comics.

External links

• Microsoft Codenames List

• Microsoft Demonstrates Next-Generation Directory Server
• Microsoft Research Singularity Project
• Bott, Ed. "How good is Microsoft's free antivirus software?", ZDnet, June 18, 2009, accessed July 6, 2009.
• Schofield, Jack. "Waiting for Morro: Microsoft's free anti-virus software", guardian.co.uk, June 11, 2009, accessed July 6, 2009.
• A View from Elsewhere : A "Live" Version of Visual Studio?
• Xbox
• Microsoft Launches Consumer Subscription Offering That Combines Microsoft Office and Windows Live OneCare
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team Blog : CRM Code Names - A Brief History
• Interview with Tjeerd Hoek, director of user experience design for Windows - istartedsomething
• Microsoft Codename "Dallas"
• Microsoft Unveils "Media2Go" Portable Media Player Platform: Intel to Deliver Initial Hardware Reference
• Microsoft Announces Official Name and New ODM Partners For Portable Media Center Devices
• Microsoft Unveils New Home PC Experiences With "Freestyle" and "Mira": New Technologies
• How a Smart Display Works