Microsoft Codenames List

Codenames are used to refer to products before their final release. Since many of these products, particularly new versions of Windows, are of major significance to the IT community, codenames are often widely used in discussions prior to the official release. Microsoft generally does not announce a final name until shortly before the product is finished, although it is usually possible to speculate (“Memphis”, for instance, was expected to be “Windows 97”, but was delayed).

MS-DOS
Newdos [1] MS-DOS 4.1
Lifeboat [2] Improved version of DOS 4.0, never finished
Jetski [2] Improved version of DOS 4.0, became MS-DOS 5.0
Astro [3] [4] [4.1] A feature upgrade to MS-DOS 5.0a, became MS-DOS 6.0
Elroy [5a] MS-DOS 6.1
Elroy [5b] MS-DOS 6.2
Bambi [6] SmartDrive
Evanston [7], Chico [8], Felix [9] MS-DOS 7.0
Windows
Windows Windows 1.0
Windows 286 Windows 2.0
Captian [10a] Early efforts to combine DOS and Windows
Slick [10a] [10b] Combined DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 install, became Janus
Janus [4.1] Combined DOS 5.0a and Windows 3.1 install, became Jastro
Jastro [10c] [10d] Non-Upgrade combined DOS/Windows setup (Setup installs MS-DOS 6.0 first and then Windows 3.1)
Janus Windows 3.1
Windows 3.1a [10e] “Stop-ship” type bug fix release of Windows 3.1 (planned about rc1-rc3), became Windows 3.11
Winball [10e] Networking for Windows, became Sparta
Kato, Sparta Windows for Workgroups 3.1
Snowball Windows for Workgroups 3.11
Gryphon, Haiku [10.1] Modular Windows
AVI [10.1] Video for Windows
Foghorn [10.1] Windows Sound System
Jumbo [10.1] Windows Printing
Jaguar [4] [4.1] [12c] Chicago kernel (real-mode DOS)
Cougar [4.1] [10e] [12a] [12b] [12c] 32-bit protected-mode kernel which runs on top of Jaguar
Panther [4.1] Subsystem which provides API support for 16 and 32-bit Windows applications
Rover [4.1] Windows for Mobile Computing: a direct derivative of the Cougar and Panther projects outlined above with Windows API support, never released
Windows 4.0 [11] Very early codename for Windows 95 (around 1990)
Windows 93 [10e] [12b] Very early codename for Windows 95 (around 1992), became Chicago
Chicago Windows 95
Cleveland [13a] [13b] [13c] [15a] Planned successor of Chicago, became Nashville
Nashville Windows 96, Merge Internet and Desktop together Project, Active Desktop
Frosting Plus! for Windows 95
Detroit Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2)
ChiCairo [14a] [14b] Early codename for Windows 98, when Memphis NT was still planned as a successor of Cairo
London [14a] [14b] OLE-2 Based Shell and environment on top of Chicago (became Memphis later)
Memphis Windows 98
Dolly Windows 98 OEM/Corporate image cloning utility
Millennium Windows Millennium Edition
Tiger Microsoft NetShow
NTOS Windows NT Kernel, “David Cutler’s NT”
NT OS/2 Windows NT 3.1
NT 1.0 Preliminary name for Windows NT 3.1
Daytona Windows NT 3.5
Cleveland Planned successor of Daytona
Newshell Shell Update Release for Windows NT 3.51
Cairo Planned successor of Daytona, Windows NT 4.0
Impala Windows NT 4.0 Embedded
Hydra Windows Terminal Server
Wolfpack Microsoft Cluster Server
Catapult Microsoft Proxy Server
Sam Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server 4.0
Horton Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server 4.5
Memphis NT [15a] [15b] Very early codename for Windows 2000 (around 1995/96)
NT 5.0 Windows 2000
Sundown Win64 (early codename for Windows 2000 64-bit)
Janus Windows 2000 64-bit
Asteroid Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
Comet [15.1] A collection of networking updates for Windows 2000
W2KSRP Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 Update Rollup
Neptune Planned Windows 2000 successor (minor update, NT 5.50), merged into Whistler
Triton [16] Planned Neptune successor or Neptune Service Pack 1
Odyssey [17] Planned Neptune successor (major update, NT 6.0)
Whistler Windows XP
Anvil Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Trainyard Windows XP Service Pack 1
Springboard Windows XP Service Pack 2
Mantis Windows XP Embedded
Chinook Windows Embedded for Point of Service
Mönch, Eiger Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs
Creekside Windows XP Starter Edition
Mira/Lone Star Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Vex Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005
eHome Windows XP Media Center Edition
Freestyle Windows XP Media Center Edition 2003
Harmony Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004
Symphony Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Emerald Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2
Lime Plus! Digital Media Edition
Whistler Server Early codename for Windows Server 2003
.NET Server Windows Server 2003
Hammer Windows.NET Server x86-64
Blade Server Windows Server 2003 Web Edition
R2 Windows Server 2003 R2
Bobcat Windows Small Business Server 2003
Evergreen Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Service Pack 2
Thunderclap Windows Storage Server 2003
Storm Windows Storage Server 2003 R2
Plato Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003
Q, Quattro Windows Home Server
Update Release 1 (UR1) Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 (PP1)
Snoqualmie Windows Home Server Power Pack 2 (PP2)
Whistler+1 [18] Early codename for Longhorn
Longhorn/Omega 13 Windows Vista
Excalibur Planned Longhorn Media Center
Diamond Windows Vista Media Center
Fiji Windows Vista Media Center 2008
Quebec Windows Embedded Standard 2009
Longhorn Server Windows Server 2008
Cougar Windows Small Business Server 2008
Centro Windows Essential Business Server 2008
Viridian Windows Hyper-V Server 2008
Socrates Windows HPC Server 2008
Lima Windows Server 2008 Foundation
Magni, Thor Windows Storage Server 2008
Blackcomb, Vienna Early codename for Windows 7
7 Windows 7
Quebec Windows Embedded Standard 7 (formerly Windows Embedded Standard 2011)
Server 7 Windows Server 2008 R2
Hyper-V R2 Windows Hyper-V Server 2008 R2
Solution Server (?) Windows MultiPoint Server 2010
WMS 2 Windows MultiPoint Server 2011
WHS ‘Vail’ Windows Home Server 2011
SBS ‘Aurora’ Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials
SBS ‘7’ Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard
Breckenridge Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials
Colorado Vail/Aurora SDK/toolkit
8 [19a] Windows 8
Server 8 [19b] Windows Server 2012
Jupiter XAML layer to help facilitate creation/distribution of “immersive apps”
MoSH (modern shell) New tile-based user interface for low-end-tablet-like devices
Windows 8 Metro-based Start screen
WMS 3 Windows MultiPoint Server 2012
SBS 8 Windows Server 2012 Essentials
Windows CE
Pegasus Windows CE 1.0
Pegasus Manager H/PC Explorer
Alder Windows CE 2.0
Axe Windows CE 2.0 Embedded Toolkit
Mercury Windows CE 2.0, Handheld PC 2.0
Gryphon Windows CE 2.01, Palm PC 1.0
Apollo Windows CE 2.01, Auto PC 1.0
Alder Enhancement Pack (EP) Windows CE 2.10
Axe EP Windows CE 2.10 Embedded Toolkit
Birch Windows CE 2.11
Buzzsaw Windows CE 2.11 Platform Builder
Jupiter Windows CE 2.11, Handheld PC Professional (3.0)
Orion Windows CE 2.11, Palm-Sized PC 1.1
Wyvern Windows CE 2.11, Palm-Sized PC 1.2
Hermes Windows CE 2.11 for Webphones
Birch SP2 Windows CE 2.12
Goldeneye Windows CE 2.12, Auto PC 2.0
Cedar Windows CE 3.0
Chainsaw Windows CE 3.0 Platform Builder
Rapier Windows Pocket PC 2000
Galileo Windows Handheld PC 2000
Merlin Windows Pocket PC 2002
Stinger Windows Smartphone 2002
Talisker Windows CE 4.0
Jameson Windows CE 4.1
McKendric Windows CE 4.2
Ozone Windows Mobile 2003
Ozone update Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition
Macallan Windows CE 5.0
Tomatin Windows CE 5.0 Networked Media Device (NMD) Feature Pack
Magneto Windows Mobile 5.0
Crossbow Windows Mobile 6.0
Cardhu, Yamazaki Windows Embedded CE 6.0
Cashmere Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3
Photon Windows Mobile 7 (cancelled)
Chelan Windows Embedded Compact 7
Windows Phone 7 Series Windows Phone 7
Metro Windows Phone 7 UI
NoDo (No Donuts) “Copy&Paste” update
Mango Windows Phone 7.5
Tango Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh
Apollo Windows Phone 8
Internet Explorer
O’Hare Internet Explorer 1
Oxygen Internet Explorer 3
Trident MSHTML (layout engine for Internet Explorer 4.0+)
Nashville Internet Explorer 4
Haley, Mars Internet Explorer 5.5
Rincon Internet Explorer 7
Teahapoo, IE.Next Internet Explorer 8
Media Player
Quartz, ActiveMovie DirectShow
ActiveMovie Player Windows Media Player
Helix Windows Media Player 8
Corona Windows Media Player 9
Crescent Windows Media Player 10
Polaris Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP
Aurora Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista
Kestral Windows Media Player for Pocket PC
Pyranha Windows Media Player for Smartphone 2002
Changeling Windows Media Player for Mac OS X
Artemis Windows Media Format SDK
Zeus Windows Media Format 9 SDK
Pegasus Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile Encoder
Hercules Windows Media Server .NET
Office
Office 9 Office 2000
Office 10 Office XP
Next Generation Office (NGO), Office .NET, Office 11 Office 2003
Avignon Office Visio 2003
Vienna Office Live Communications Server 2005
Live Server Office Communications Server 2007
Office 12 Office 2007
Office 14 Office 2010
Office 15 Office 2013
Office 16 after next Office version
Visual Studio
Rainier Visual Studio .NET (2002)
Everett Visual Studio 2003
Venus Visual Web Developer Express Edition
Whidbey Visual Studio 2005
Orcas Visual Studio 2008
Burton, Rosario Visual Studio 2008 Team System
Hawaii, Dev10 Visual Studio 2010
Visual Studio 11 Visual Studio 2012

Update 1 (Jan. 7, 2011): Added MoSH, Jupiter, Wind, No Donuts, Office 16
Update 2 (Jan. 21, 2011): Added Janus (DOS+Win3.1), Windows 3.1a, Winball, Panther, Rover, Windows 93; Updated Astro, Captain, Slick, Jastro, Jaguar, Cougar
Update 3 (Jan. 23, 2011): Added Comet
Update 4 (Aug. 13, 2011): Added Tango
Update 5 (Feb. 24, 2012): Removed Wind
Update 6 (Jun. 18, 2012): A few minor updates


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