Microsoft Product Names

Internally, Microsoft has been naming its products after cities, with
names such as "Memphis", and "Cairo".

If this trend takes off in the software industry as a whole, we may
see some more cynical names being used ...


"Bataan" -      A team of programmers pull a series of all-nighters and
                drive themselves to the point of collapse in order to meet
                the release date.

"Stalingrad" -  The project turns out to be far more difficult than
                expected. Management responds by assigning more and more
                programmers to the development effort, but it ultimately
                fails.

"Dresden" -     The company that originally owned the product goes down in
                flames. As part of the liquidation, the product ends up in
                the hands of a competitor, who severely mismanages it.

"Beirut" -      Internal squabbling among the programmers turns the project
                into a basket case. Senior management comes in, kicks some
                heads, and gets the project back on track. But the
                programmers still hate each other.

"Carthage" -    After two previously unsuccessful releases, a third version
                of the product is released. This also fails. The project's
                programmers are dispersed, and the product's name is never
                spoken again.

"Jerusalem" -   The ultimate legacy application. Generations of hacks,
                fixes, patches, different operating systems, and changes
                of management have produced an application that is
                completely unmaintainable.

"Mumbai" -      For reasons best known to themselves, marketing tries to
                sell an existing well-known product under a new name.  The
                typical response from customers is a blank stare, followed
                by "Oh, you mean Bombay".

"Nanking" -     After the developers fail to produce a successful product,
                management punishes the guilty and innocent alike with
                mass sackings.