14 DAY TRIAL // The key to understanding Microsoft product codenames is to accept that they are built on a content of ambiguity. The use of codenames has a superficial impact both on the actual product and the perception of the public in relation to that product. "We use code names because plans change. Code names are a "bucket" we can fill with meaning over time. At some point, when the release becomes concrete enough, we give the product a name and announce it," revealed Brian Keller, a Technical Evangelist for Microsoft Visual Studio Team System.
Keller additionally gave an insight on the codenames associated with the Microsoft Visual Studio line. Everett, Whidbey, Orcas and Rosario are all code names that the Microsoft Visual Studio Team used in correlation with the various editions of Visual Studio.
"For the past several years we've been using north west locations as code names. The pattern is that with each release the location gets further from Seattle (not sure why we decided to do that but that's the pattern). Everett (the code name for VS2003) is a city just North of Seattle - there's a big Naval base there: aircraft carriers, the works, pretty cool. We really didn't have much of a code name for VS2002 - I can't actually remember why, we just referred to it as VS.NET. After Everett, came Whidbey (VS2005 and an island just off the coast north of seattle) and now we are working on Orcas (another island a bit further north west)," added Keller.
Rosario is the latest addition to the Visual Studio codename family, and also a resort on Orcas Island. Rosario refers to the Visual Studio version that will follow Orcas. "We created the Rosario code name to describe some work that we (VSTS) really want to get done and doesn't fit in the Orcas release. In a sense Rosario is a place holder code name. As Orcas unfolds and the rest of the division turns their attention to what is next for them too, we may see changes in what we currently believe our Rosario plan is. For now we'll plow ahead with what we think we are doing," explained Keller.