AAll About Microsoft: l lCodeTracker A monthly look at Microsoft’s codenames and what they Areveal about the direction of the company. b o u t M i c r o s o f t : All About Microsoft CodeTracker Keeping track of Microsoft's myriad codenames is an (almost) full-time occupation. I know, as I spend a lot of my work hours tracking down the latest names in the hopes of being able to better keep tabs on what's coming next from the Redmondians. Each month, I'll be releasing an updated, downloadable version of the CodeTracker. I'll add new codenames -- arranged in alphabetical order by codename -- of forthcoming Microsoft products and technologies. I also will note timing changes (date slips, the release of a new test build, the disappearance of a planned deliverable) for entries that are already part of the Tracker. Once Microsoft releases the final version of a product or technology I've been tracking, I will remove it from the Tracker. In that way, the CodeTracker will remain focused on futures. (An aside about the Tracker: A question mark in place of an entry means I have insufficient information to hazard even an educated guess about a particular category.) If you have suggested new entries or corrections to existing ones, please drop me an e-mail at mjf at microsofttracker dot com. Thanks! Mary Jo Foley, Editor, ZDNet's "All About Microsoft" blog This Month's Theme: Big iron needs love, too If you went by nothing but blog and publication headlines, you might think mobile phones and slates are where all the innovation is these days. The latest news out of Microsoft – with its consumer ad-spending exuberance – might lead you to think the same. The reality is that there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes movement on the high-end side of the house in Redmond. This fall, there will be more news coming from Microsoft’s Technical Computing Group that should be of interest to those building their own datacenters and distributed computing clusters. This month’s update to my tracker includes codenames of a number of new “big iron” projects at the company. Check out the new and updated entries for Dryad, MFx, Nectar, Orleans, Quincy, TidyFS for more. I’ve also added a number of updates on some of those aforementioned consumer technologies, as well, including updates on Horizon, IE 9, Office 15 (with Lime and Limestone), the still- rumored Zune HD2 and Wave 14 of the various Windows Live wares. New to the codename “dead pool” this month is Quadrant, a piece of Microsoft’s Oslo modeling puzzle. The associated M language is supposedly being refocused (whatever that means), but isn’t (yet) off the chart. IronRuby – Microsoft’s implementation of the Ruby programming language – also is in limbo as of August. I’ve updated a number of links and due dates throughout the Tracker, as I do each month. So without further ado, it's on to this month's Microsoft CodeTracker. Codename Expected Description of the product Projected Due Date for Latest Additional info Product Name final release Milestone achieved Alchemy ? The customizable May be part of still- ? More Alchemy shell/framework for unannounced mobile information Embedded Compact builds devices under development at Microsoft Aurora ? A small business appliance 2011 (?) Test build More Aurora built around Windows Server released in information 2008 R2, includes Active August Directory functionality. Half on-premises; half in cloud Axum (formerly Domain-specific language for ? In internal More Axum codenamed concurrent programming. incubation as information Maestro); final Built on top of Microsoft's of 2009. New name: ? CCR engine build supporting VS 2010 released in mid-April Azurelight ? Cloud-based product support Source code and In More service documentation was due development Azurelight summer 2009 on MSDN information All About Microsoft: Codename Tracker by Mary Jo Foley 3 Barrelfish ? Multikernel OS project from ? Early test More Microsoft Research version of OS Barrelfish Cambridge and ETH Zurich downloadable information researchers as of September 2009 BizTalk vNext ? Successor to the BizTalk Post-2011 BizTalk More BizTalk Server 2010 release of Server 2010, vNext Microsoft’s integration server with information (which is due in 2010). AppFabric Original goal was to include compatibility, more Windows AppFabric now due in compatibility Q3 2010. No update on V.Next BlueDB ? Sounds like, as of mid-May, ? ? More this is still an active project Blue/database and not an early codename futures for SQL Azure or Azure information storage. Not sure what it is, other than a database- futures effort BPOS Lite A low-end version of MS’ ? ? More BPOS Business Productivity Online Lite Suite (BPOS). Unclear if this information will be Microsoft hosted/managed or hosted by partners Bunker-V ? Microsoft Research project; ? Paper More Bunker-V focus is on improving presented in information hypervisor security in the early June cloud 2010 at MS Research summit CamCube ? Microsoft Research project ? Prototype More investigating routerless system exists CamCube connectivity for datacenter (as of information servers summer 2010) 4 All About Microsoft: Codename Tracker by Mary Jo Foley Chakra ? New JavaScript engine in IE9 2011 (?) Latest IE 9 More Chakra preview information released in August. Beta expected in Sept. 2010 Chelan Windows The next major release of Q4 2010 Public test More Chelan Embedded one of Microsoft's embedded build released information Compact 7 platforms (the one inside in early June phones and the Zune HD, 201 plus third party products) Colorado ? “Client Computer Connector” 2011 (?) Colorado SDK More Colorado framework common to the went to information Vail and Aurora (and testers in possibly also next version of early August SBS). Also known as extensibility SDK Commute UX ? Car info-tainment system ? Demonstrated More from Microsoft Research at TechFest Commute UX 2009 in information February Configuration ? Adds multiple device Second half of 2011 Beta 1 made More Manager v.Next management to Config available in Configuration Manager product May 2010 Manager v.Next information Cosmos ? Storage/file system layer Cosmos is part of Windows More Cosmos component of Microsoft's Microsoft's foundational Azure went information Red Dog cloud (Azure) OS Azure platform and not a commercial in platform. Also described as standalone February file system for Dryad product/service 2010; all core components being continually updated All About Microsoft: Codename Tracker by Mary Jo Foley 5 Courier ? There’s another Courier – ? Been in More Courier not the dual-screen tablet development information incubation that Microsoft since 2008 killed in April 2010 – but a synchronization platform/service for mobile/PCs from Microsoft Research Dallas ? Data as a service offering Q4 2010 Private CTP More Dallas built on top of Azure test build information available in November 2009; CTP3 due in August 2010 Denali SQL Server Version of SQL Server that ? ? More Denali 2011 or 2012 will follow SQL Server 2008 information (?) R2 Descry ? Open-source visualization ? Sample code More Descry samples and code available on information CodePlex and Mix Online site starting in February 2009 Digital Lens ? MS Innovation Labs (Israel) ? Test version More Digital tool for developers writing downloadable Lens apps that can be viewable by as of early information those with vision June 2010 impairments Doloto ? Microsoft Research (and now ? Test version More Doloto Dev Labs) tool for making available for information Ajax page downloads faster download as of September 2009 Dorado Zune software Microsoft’s rough equivalent New version likely around Current More Dorado for the PC to iTunes. Being updated to holiday 2010 version information support both Zune HD supports players and Windows Phones Zune HD (and other media players) 6 All About Microsoft: Codename Tracker by Mary Jo Foley Dryad ? Technology for 2011 (running on top of Transitioning More Dryad writing/running Windows Server HPC) from research information parallel/distributed apps. to Tech Similar to Google’s Computing MapReduce and Apache’s Group as of Hadoop summer 2010. CTP1 due in Nov. 2010 Dynamic System Center Private-cloud tools and 2010 Release More Dynamic Datacenter Virtual Machine guidance for customers candidate out Datacenter Toolkit Manager 2008 (there’s a partner version of in summer of Toolkit R2 Self Service this toolkit as well). Runs on 2010 information Portal 2.0 Windows Server Dynamics CRM Dynamics CRM Next version of Microsoft’s Second half of 2010 for CTP 3 More 5 2011 on-premises and online CRM online version; early 2011 delivered in Dynamics CRM products for on-premises software March 2010; 5 information release public beta due in Sept. 2010 Dynamics NAV 7 ? Next version of Microsoft’s Originally due in 2010/11; ? More Dynamics/NAV ERP platform now in 2011/12 Dynamics NAV 7 information Echoes ? Platform for Target was mid-2008 to Various More Echoes distribution/delivery of Live carriers. No updated word carriers and information Mobile services to Microsoft on status providers groups and third-party been testing phone/IPTV providers since spring 2008 Emporia ? A Twitter-viewing client from ? Public beta More Project Microsoft FUSE Labs with limited Emporia functionality information commenced in late May Experiment 19 ? Graphics component of the ? ? More Menlo mobile project from Experiment 19 Microsoft research information Felix Microsoft Office A Facebook-centric version ? Latest beta More Felix Docs of Office Web Apps from refresh out in information Microsoft FUSE Labs August All About Microsoft: Codename Tracker by Mary Jo Foley 7 Florida Windows Intune Windows management Early 2011 Public beta More Florida software and service that expanded in information evolved from System Center July 2010 Online Desktop Manager (SCODM – codenamed Jupiter) Gazelle ? A new, security-focused ? Gazelle now More Gazelle browser from Microsoft part of the information Research.