List of Microsoft codenames


Microsoft codenames are 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 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.x and 9x

Windows NT family

Windows CE family

Windows Mobile

Windows Phone

Others

OS components

[Microsoft Servers]

SQL Server family

CodenameFinal nameNotesRef
SQLNTSQL Server 4.21
SQL95SQL Server 6.0
HydraSQL Server 6.5
SphinxSQL Server 7.0
PlatoOLAP Services 7.0"OLAP Services" was later renamed Microsoft Analysis Services
ShilohSQL Server 2000Version 8
RosettaReporting Services in SQL Server 2000
YukonSQL Server 2005Version 9
PicassoAnalysis Services in SQL Server 2005
KatmaiSQL Server 2008Version 10
KilimanjaroSQL Server 2008 R2Version 10.5
BlueSQL Server 2008 Report Designer 2.0This is the standalone release of the tool for Reporting Services. It must not be confused with Report Builder 2.0.
DenaliSQL Server 2012Version 11
JuneauSQL Server Data ToolsWas included in SQL Server 2012, later released as a standalone downloadable application
CrescentPower ViewA data visualisation tool that originally shipped as part of SQL Server 2012, later an add-in for Microsoft Excel
SQL14SQL Server 2014Version 12
HekatonSQL Server In-Memory OLTPIn-memory database engine built into SQL Server 2014
SQL16SQL Server 2016Version 13
HelsinkiSQL Server 2017Version 14
SeattleSQL Server 2019Version 15
ArisSQL Server Big Data ClustersPublic preview available for download. Announced at Microsoft Ignite 2018 event on September 24–28

Others

Developers tools

[Visual Studio] family

.NET Framework family

Languages

CodenameFinal nameNotesRef
ClarityLanguage Integrated Query LINQ Language extensions to expose query syntax natively to languages such as Visual Basic.NET and C#
DMModelling language
JakartaVisual J++
MetroMicrosoft Design languageA typography-based design language

Others

Gaming hardware

[Office software]

CodenamePreliminary nameFinal nameNotesRef
AlbanyMicrosoft EquiptMicrosoft's all-in-one, subscription-based service for office, communication, and security software
BanditSchedule+ 1.0Microsoft's first Personal Information Manager
BarneyMoney 1.0Microsoft's personal finance software
BettyMoney 2.0
BudapestMicrosoft Office Communicator Web Access 2005
BulletMicrosoft Mail 3.0Microsoft's first LAN-based email product written in-house
CirrusMicrosoft Access 1.0
CRM V1.0, TsunamiMicrosoft CRM 1.0The 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 IMicrosoft CRM 1.2
Danube Phase IIMicrosoft CRM 3
DinoMicrosoft Money 3.0
KilimanjaroTitanMicrosoft CRM 4Was originally Kilimanjaro but changed to Titan, as Kilimanjaro was too difficult to spell
DecoMicrosoft PhotoDraw
GreenwichReal-Time Communications Server 2003Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003
IstanbulMicrosoft Office Communicator 2005
MaestroMicrosoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005
OpusWord for Windows v1.0 for Windows 2.x
OsloMicrosoft BizTalk Server SOA, SQL Server Modeling CTPSet of Service-oriented architecture technologies
Ren, StimpyWrenMicrosoft 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.
RigelSkype Room SystemsA meeting room system designed to interface with Skype
TahitiMicrosoft SharedViewA screen sharing tool which allows users to take over sessions and interact with remote desktops. No audio or conference facilities.
TahoeSharepoint Portal Server 2001
UtopiaMicrosoft BobIntended to be a user-friendly GUI

Other codenames

CodenamePreliminary nameFinal nameNotesRef
AcropolisApplication framework for Smart Clients
Aero DiamondUsed 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
AlexandriaZune MarketplaceAn online music store
ArgoZuneA digital media player
AtlantaA cloud service that monitors Microsoft SQL Server deployments
BlackbirdAn online content-authoring platform centered around the concept of distributed Object Linking and Embedding 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.
ConcurAims to: define higher-level abstractions ; 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.
DallasAims to help discover, purchase and manage, premium data subscriptions in the Windows Azure platform
DoradoZune PC Client
HailStorm.NET My ServicesCollection of web services centered around the storage and retrieval of information. Cancelled before it could fully materialize.
HonoluluWindows Admin Center
KratosPowerAppsSoftware for building and sharing native, mobile, and Web apps
KumoBingMicrosoft's set of features improving Live Search search engine
MarvelThe Microsoft NetworkThe classic version of MSN, originally as a proprietary, "walled garden" online service
Media2GoWindows Mobile software for Portable Media CentersPlatform built on Windows Mobile found on portable media players
MetroXML Paper Specification Named after Metro by T-Mobile, a wireless prepaid service in the United States.
MilanSurfaceMicrosoft PixelSenseTable-top style computer with multi-touch touchscreen interface
MiraWindows CE.NET-based technology for smart displays
MonacoMusic-making program similar to Apple GarageBand application
OrigamiUltra-Mobile PC
PalladiumTrusted WindowsEffort 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.
SoftsledSoftware based Windows Media Center Extender
SpringfieldMicrosoft PopflyWebsite in Alpha testing stage providing mashup and webpages creation tools, with publishing as Rich Internet Application option
WolverineTCP/IP stack for Windows for Workgroups 3.11Named after the Wolverine, a character from Marvel Comics.