Why does Microsoft always create so many ugly, confusing, and ridiculous product names? The worst of them all is ".Net" (which is really confusing).

Last Updated: 02.07.2025 00:25

Why does Microsoft always create so many ugly, confusing, and ridiculous product names? The worst of them all is ".Net" (which is really confusing).

Keep in mind, though, there are only two hard problems in software: Cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors.

But I mean, Microsoft was a pioneer in this field and is still the undisputed king of bad naming.

And when Anthropic released the successor to Claude 3.5 Sonnet, they called it…

What stood as a symbol of Hollywood glamor and elegance?

When Google released the next version of Gemini 1.5 Pro, they called it Gemini 1.5 Pro-002 (I wish I was joking, but I’m not).

*drumroll*

It’s not just Microsoft. Look at the way top AI companies these days name their foundation models.

Robin Williams, Ali Wong, John Mulaney, And 47 More Comedians' Absolute Best Jokes - BuzzFeed

Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

When OpenAI released their successor to GPT-4, they called it GPT-4o. Their next model after that was called o1.

They didn’t even bother to change the name. What the fuck, guys.

Will Boyington – New AA NASA Office Of Communications - NASA Watch