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 (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.[1]

Operating systems [ edit ]

Windows 3.1x and 9x [ edit ]

Windows NT family [ edit ]

Windows CE family [ edit ]

Windows Mobile [ edit ]

Codename Preliminary name Final name Ref Rapier N/A Pocket PC 2000 [56] Merlin N/A Pocket PC 2002 [56] Ozone N/A Windows Mobile 2003 [56] Magneto N/A Windows Mobile 5 [56] Crossbow N/A Windows Mobile 6 [56] 6 on 6 N/A Windows Mobile 6.1.4 [56] Titanium N/A Windows Mobile 6.5 [56] Maldives Windows Mobile 7 N/A [56]

Windows Phone [ edit ]

Others [ edit ]

OS components [ edit ]

SQL Server family [ edit ]

Others [ edit ]

Languages [ edit ]

Others [ edit ]

Gaming hardware [ edit ]

Other codenames [ edit ]