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What you see here is the result of Microsoft's ridiculous infighting and internal politics, constructed by the stack-ranking culture of doom.

You basically get ranked on how visible your stuff is to management, so you:

1) name your project as patriotically as possible. It's gotta include one of "Windows", "Microsoft", "XML", "COM", ".NET", "Modern" -- preferably all of them multiple times, especially if it has nothing to do with any of them.

2) make sure to stick the name in as many places as possible. A great place is the default filesystem structure, where everyone is bound to come across it.

3) earn bonus points if you can massage it into a de-facto standard (hello, XHR)

With any luck, Microsoft Modern framework for Windows Azure .NET connectivity with Windows Azure 8.1 will show up on your reviewer's radar and you can enjoy your juicy bonus until the same time next year.

Source: used to work there

P.S. I'm not a Microsoft cynic -- just having a bit of fun :).



Maybe we should formulate a Microsoft equivalent of Godwin's Law: "As an online discussion about Microsoft grows longer, the probability of an ex-Microsoftie bringing up stack ranking approaches 1."

("Ballmer's Law" has a nice ring to it..)


Stack ranking wasn't around when any of this was done. This is early 90's stuff when stack ranking didn't even start until the late 90's.


SysWOW64 is from the 90s?


The Windows on Windows name was also used for the 16-bit compatibility layer, so the WOW part is from the early 90s.


How true. I remember .NET Servers were everywhere circa 2002, e.g. BizTalk Server.NET. Things never change in M$ land, now it's all Azure.




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