The “Geneva” suite of products get official names

It’s been a good ride: in all these months I developed some emotional attachment to the code name “geneva”, and like with “indigo” it will take some time for me to get used to the official names. At the same time I am excited to see that the official names are the right ones! Let’s see what changed into what, as described in the forefront blog.

Code name	Official Name
Geneva Server	Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS)
Geneva Framework	Windows Identity Foundation
Windows Cardspace Geneva	Windows CardSpace

See, it makes total sense! Notwithstanding the enormous improvements they bring, Geneva Server and Windows Cardspace Geneva are new versions of existing products: it’s just normal to use the existing names (the version numbers are being finalized and will be disclosed when available).

The Geneva Framework had no counterparts in our existing offering, hence it gets a brand new name. Windows Identity Foundation is a great name, which expresses in concise fashion its foundational nature: if you are thinking about adding identity capabilities to your .NET application, this is what you should be thinking of first. Ah, below there is the expected pronunciation for the abbreviated form:

I will indeed miss “geneva” as a general moniker for indicating all the products without a periphrasis. On second thought, I think I’ll get used to the new names pretty quickly: they make a good job in indicating what the products are supposed to do, hence I am sure you’ll enjoy using them too! :-)

Comments

• Anonymous
  July 13, 2009
  How does the change of name affect your previous observation of incompatibility with the Azure WebRoles in your "Claims and Cloud: Pardon our Dust" post of 4/1/2009? --rj