Bizzare Windows Names

 Microsoft Windows is an 36 years old operating system group, brand, and overall an great product. It's name itself is quite uncreative, however. Microsoft Windows have a quite long history for computers, from a poor designed Windows Version 1.01 for IBM PCs with Intel i286, to flat smartphone-driven Windows 10 Version 21H1. Oh boy do they have an insane and not well-known preliminary names, codenames, and final names for Windows products!

1. Windows 94/95

Windows 95 was an revolutional Windows version. If Windows 95 wouldn't branded so unique, it would be called Windows version 4.00 and 4.03 for later releases. It's codename is Chicago, Microsoft Plus! codename was Frosting, and Windows 95 internet browser was codenamed as O'Hare - the largest airport in the city of Chicago. For backward compatibility, Windows 95 version assigned as 3.95.

Windows 95 build 90c was an weird cloning experiment, and for some reason it mentions Windows 94 name. Microsoft Code Name Chicago indeed planned to be released on 1994, but the development didn't gone well (as always).

Some people just came up to styling this release as "Windows '95", in a manner simular as Encarta '95 and other products.

2. Windows 97

Just an news media thought they are smart enough to call Windows Memphis project as Windows 97. That was an cute prediction of the final name. That's just happend, back then Memphis projected to be released in 1997, and that's it.

On Developer Release of Windows 98, Microsoft adressed the issue of misusing naming terms towards Memphis. Turns out, Windows 97 naming was an premature guess.

3. Windows XP Personal, Windows 2001

Some people found an bitmap of Windows 2000 Personal. It's weird. The first working build of Windows Personal SKU is, i bellieve, 2257. And yes, initially Windows XP Code Named Whistler was planned to be called Windows 2001. Personal SKU survived beyond the official name reveal for Windows XP, and still included on the watermark in Build 2498. But back in Build 2498, Microsoft have already came up with an official name of Personal SKU, as Windows XP Home Edition.

4. Windows Server 2003's identity problem.

If it was ok to codename this version as "Whistler Server", then prepare for the initial preliminary name: Windows XP Server. Oddly enough, Microsoft planned to call an NT 5.2 generation of Windows Server family as "Windows 2002 Server"... it was back when Windows XP was released. As Windows Server development continues, it gains an yet another names, as like Windows Servers (Removed Windows XP identity), plain Microsoft Windows, Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition, Windows .NET Server, Windows .NET Server Family as being told in boot screen, and when Windows Server 2003 gone under Release Candidate 2 development - Windows .NET Server 2003 branding was used. There is some information that Windows Server 2003 also claimed the "Longhorn Server" codename, but that codename got reused for Windows Server 2008.

5. Windows Starter 2007

Windows Vista Starter SKU is extremely unpopular, especially for an mainstream client operating system. Imagine Windows Vista Starter, but it's an Build 5270 - Beta 2 pre-release. I am an very proud reviewer of Windows Starter 2007!