Filed under: Microsoft, Mozilla
Codename watch: Windows "Fiji" and Firefox "Minefield"
The releases of Windows Vista ("Longhorn") and Firefox 2.0 ("Bon Echo") are slowly creeping
up on us, but Microsoft and Mozilla always have their eyes on the next move. Both software makers have chosen codenames
for the next-next versions of their flagship products. Microsoft's next version of Windows has been given the codename
"Fiji," and Firefox 3.0 will be called
"Minefield" (with a cute little logo to match). Why Fiji and Minefield? Who knows. Fiji is short, snappy,
and tropical. Minefield, on the other hand, is exciting and aggressive but also kind of worrisome If anything's
certain, though, it's that these nicknames will only stick around until the products' final releases, at which point it
won't really matter.
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Victor Agreda, Jr. said 9:42PM on 4-13-2006
Minefield? Worst. Name. Ever. Minefields are scary places, full of evil and foreboding. They maim small children and are designed for carnage. Is that the image Firefox/Mozilla wants to project. I'm no marketing genius, but Minefield is the stupidest name I've ever heard for such a thing... And Web 2.0 is full of goofy names...
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Richard said 5:44AM on 4-24-2006
Yeah, 'Minefield' makes me think it's gonna blow at the next click. OK, maybe it will and the developers expect that - it is a PRE-RELEASE version after all - but nicknames stick, and if this new version of Firefox ain't rock-steady when it does get released it's gonna get tainted by the Minefield name for ever more. Fingers crossed...x
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Lestarte said 5:39AM on 6-13-2006
how bout...FIJI.....Paradise?
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Pradeep Kumar said 2:55AM on 8-10-2006
This article is wrong. Minefield is not the codename for firefox 3. It is an internal name given to untested unofficial fields and the name intends to scare anyone without guts to test those kind of stuff.
The original codename is Gran Paradiso
http://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox3
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Djaxn said 10:13AM on 8-11-2006
Nicknames stick, eh? What was the nickname for Windows 98? How about Windows 2000? Internet Explorer 6? If you're reaching for google, then enough said. If you know these off the top of your head, perhaps buying a life on eBay might be in order.
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Isack said 3:29PM on 9-19-2006
Hello Friends,
I am here just becuase when i google for Minefidle download link by head I found it may be with you.
I try to download and run the same but each time it gives me some type of error will post latter here.
Thanks
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phalacee said 2:08AM on 2-09-2007
@Djaxn
Windows 95 was Chicago, Win98 was Memphis, I don't think either IE6 or Win2k were given codenames - at least they weren't publicly announced.
No, I didn't use google. And yes, I have a social life, way from computers. I develop software for living ... and yes, codenames with negative connotations tend to stick, where as codenames with obscure links tend to be forgotten. If Microsoft had announced that the next version of Windows would be using the code name Chernobyl rather than Fiji or Vienna, there would be alot of press coverage about the name alone, and it would stick in peoples minds ...
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Trent said 8:02PM on 6-14-2007
Tried alpha 5 code named "Gran paradiso" and liked it better than Firefox 2, which seems to have consistent problems with multiple tabs on a same window. "paradiso" worked well, except on a few pages I visit, it had some minor problems dealing with picture logoes. Installed "minefield" today and those problems are gone. Sure, some add-ons still dont work, but I think it already is the best browser currently available by far. Highly recommeded!
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