Neptune, Odyssey, and... Asteroid???

[giantsteen]

I was browsing around at some old Windows Neptune and Windows Odyssey news articles, and then there was one that struck my eye which had a small blurb about an update release of Windows 2000.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/new ... mars-.aspx

and here: http://apronyms.com/gonym.php?ap=ASTEROID

I could BARELY find anything about Odyssey, but here are my other links if you are curious

http://news.cnet.com/Does-Microsofts-ne ... 29376.html

http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_18/b3627086.htm

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/compu ... index.html

If anyone finds any other very good and interesting articles on Neptune, Odyssey, and possibly Asteroid, post here!!

EDIT: Found this blurb:

For Valentine's Day 2001 NASA landed a spacecraft on an asteroid for the first time. The asteroid is named Eros, the Greek word for Love, so NASA made a landing for Valentine's Day. As Rock Prophecy points out, Jimi Hendrix had a name for the asteroid that will impact our planet, the name he gave is Electric Love. So when NASA landed their spacecraft on Eros, or Love, Bill Gates went to the Hendrix museum in Seattle to announce that Microsoft's Windows operating system will be titled "XP", which stands for Experience, which you may know is the name of Jimi Hendrix's band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
So here is Bill Gates at the Hendrix museum saying the new name for Windows is XP, meaning Experience, just when NASA lands a spacecraft on an asteroid for the first time, for Valentine's Day and the name of the asteroid is Eros, for Love, which is the name Jimi gave to the asteroid that will hit Earth. Now, while the XP, Experience, operating system was being developed at Microsoft, the project had a code name. You know what that code name was? Originally it was "Asteroid."

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread75024/pg1

[linuxlove]

I could BARELY find anything about Odyssey, but here are my other links if you are curious

http://news.cnet.com/Does-Microsofts-ne ... 29376.html

http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_18/b3627086.htm

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/compu ... index.html

Link 1: Most likely Neptune.
Link 2:

The key is Neptune, the code name for the new interface prototype, says James Allchin, Microsoft's senior vice-president in charge of personal and business systems. Instead of staring at icon-filled screens and file menus, Neptune users might choose among a handful of activities--communicating or managing personal finance, for instance--prompting the PC to load the necessary programs. Allchin says it could make PCs about as easy to control as a telephone.

Definitely Neptune. Specifically, the Activity Centers.

Link 3: Whistler, but it suggests that there may have been builds of Odyssey compiled. It also suggests that there were a few more builds of Neptune than 5111.

[giantsteen]

Totalling what I found about Asteroid, it was suppposed to be Windows NT 5.1 . Neptune was planned as version 5.5, and Odyssey would have been the successor of Neptune. Neptune, Odyssey, AND Asteroid were combined together to make Whistler. Windows Neptune, at the time was the planned successor of Windows XP which was Asteroid before the merge. This makes

Memphis NT 5.0 > Asteroid 5.1 > Neptune5.5 > Triton 5.6 > Odyssey 6.0 > PLANS MERGE TO WHISTLER===5.1

Asteroid was Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 even though they still made Windows XP. Goes to show that "Win2k with a SP1" would have been a whole OS (Windows Asteroid) if they hadn't merged the other projects. Same with Triton, as it wouldve been Neptune SP1.

[Suumpmolk]

makes no sense for SP to change kernelMinor #

[Derf]

Your information is, on the whole, bunk. Neptune wasn't going to be the successor to Windows XP, Neptune was to be the successor to Windows ME and the first consumer version of Windows NT. Asteroid was the codename for Windows 2000 SP1 and nothing more - no kernel changes, no major feature changes, just the standard security rollup. Odyssey was to be the successor to Windows 2000 in the business sector and was merged with Windows Neptune to make the releases of the next-generation of Windows more streamlined and in lockstep.

[giantsteen]

It was SUPPOSED to be a new Windows version, but was instead turned into a service pack. As it says in those places (even by Paul Thurott) Asteroid was going to be XP, but instead merged Neptune, Odyssey, and Asteroid into Whistler. If I could find those Antitrust documents, I could show more proof.


Windows Desktop Release Plan
¯ Focus on Win98 and NT5 in CY98
¯ Very limited Win98 Service Pack
- No additional development except bug fixes, IE component updates, and ~ small number of
features :
¯ NT "Asteroid" in Q4FY99 - Minor release
- Businesses: Point release to accelerate Ib~[’5 deployment (fixes, deployment tools)
- Consumer: Remove barriers for NT on high-end consumer systems ’
- Available through OEM and FG
¯ NT "NepTune" in Q4FY00 - Major release
Developers: Major programming infrastructure innovation/simplified API
- Win+, COM+, integrated storage inf~aslructure
- Drive to syne Tools and Office releases
- Businesses: NT5 enhancements (ZAW 2.0, DS 2.0)
- High-End: targeted at workstation users, 64bit support (NT64 may ship sooner based on
Merced timing)
Consumers: Significantly simplified end user experience
¯ NT "Triton" in Q4FY01 - Minor release
New hardware supporl for CY01 holiday

http://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowacon ... X07297.pdf

[anthonyboone]

So no odyssey builds surfaced?

[Derf]

So no odyssey builds surfaced?

There's no evidence of one ever being compiled.

[hounsell]

Indeed, this documents further that idea, since they weren't even putting Odyssey into the planning documents at that time, it was a distant idea. Considering how vague their plans for even NepTune and Triton were, I doubt they were even actively planning out Odyssey, let alone compiling it.

[z180]

We know that Oddysey had the skinning engine,but perhaps is was not more finished than adding
a customizable look to 2000 and a few ideas on a paper.

[hounsell]

We know that Oddysey had the skinning engine,but perhaps is was not more finished than adding
a customizable look to 2000 and a few ideas on a paper.

Know?

Not heard anything from even a vaguely reliable source saying that it had a "skinning engine". Would be very interested to have a link or something to that.

[Vista custo]

Probably just speculation that MS joined Odyssey into Whistler and the skinning engine was a part of that. What isn't documented is pure speculation and Odyssey, Neptune and Asteroid are favorites for speculation.

[giantsteen]

It actually did say somewhere that after Triton, there would be major UI adjustments.

[hounsell]

It actually did say somewhere that after Triton, there would be major UI adjustments.

That's hardly indicative of a skinning engine though.

3.1 -> 95 was a major UI change, wasn't a skinning engine.

[anthonyboone]

Are you debating the style engine's possibility of derivation from Odyssey