Vista security

A article on Hasta LaVista security:


http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1841242,00.asp


Starrob

 

I'm trying to figure out what "Longhorn" means in connection with Windows Vista.
According my research Longhorn is a sort of code-name for "Windows Vista".
Is that correct ? I'm not familiar with American habits (and humor too).

 

The code name usually means nothing in relation to the product in development. This is a common practice among U.S. companies, to give a developing product a meaningless name. Microsoft, Apple, and Intel do it all the time. The reasoning for it, I believe, is that they need to see how the final product will look before they officially name it, do market research into the new name, check for possible copyright infringement, and copyright the new name if there is none.

If you remember who Carl Sagan was, then you will find this related article funny, and get a better understanding as to why they do it:

http://idiot-dog.com/humor/butthead.html

We are a bit litigious.

 

Yes, it is the codename for Windows Vista. When planning & roadmapping the OS development path and future releases Microsoft has to come up with internal names for their use in referring to these OS versions even though they have no idea what actual name the marketing & PR guys will eventually want to use. For whatever reason, Microsoft has tended to pick location names for their operating systems; so, for example, Windows 95 was codenamed "Chicago", Windows 98 was codenamed "Memphis", then there was an ill-fated grand-unifying, all-powerful Windows NT OS release that was codenamed "Cairo".

However, while the names are essentially arbitrary there is a cute little story that goes with the recent releases. Apparently, when it came time to pick a name for the release that was to become Windows XP someone fond of skiing apparently decided upon "Whistler" after a mountain at a ski resort in Canada. However, they also roadmapped out another version of Windows (expected to be released around 2010) that is codenamed "Blackcomb" after the other mountain at the resort. Well, it just so happens that between the bases of Whistler mountain and Blackcomb mountain there is a popular bar & grill called the Longhorn Saloon. So... tada... the interim release between Whister (XP) and Blackcomb (?? in 2010) was coined "Longhorn" (and just recently "officially" christened Windows Vista).

 

Close_Hauled and Alec,
Many thanks for the good explanation.
For awhile I thought that "Longhorn" was the name of a company related to MS or the name of a department within MS, that developed Windows Vista, but after a quick research, I found something about a code-name and I got worried. I didn't want to make myself ridiculous, talking about COMPANY "Longhorn"
I just don't have the time to read everything and I'm rather slow in English.
After all it isn't that important, names are just names.
I guess, if you don't have a decent name yet for a software, it's a good idea to give it a code-name.

The company, I'm working for, doesn't use code-names for application softwares.
We usually have already a name, like "Container Repair System" and we use the abbreviation "CRS" when we talk about it (to impress the ignorant users ).
Personally, I find the American way less boring than ours, especially after reading Alec's story.

Yes, I remember Carl Sagan. He presented a number of episodes about the planets in our solar system on Belgian TV.
Interesting stuff, but I didn't like the way he talked, I can't say it in English, but nobody talks like Carl Sagan in real life . He irritated me in the end.
Walt Disney was a very good narrator in a pleasant and natural way.

 

I always assumed that he was from New England, possibly Boston or Cambridge, MA. That accent was so Harvard, or Boston Blue Blood. I looked up his bio on Wikipedia:

How does a guy from Brooklyn get that accent? He must have been in denial when he went to Harvard.