Are you using the .NET name correctly & other interesting brand info

Published on 26 July 2011 • Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Not talking about the technology but various identifiers in the .NET world are often abused. I know this is SUPER pedantic of me, but it is something I come across watching lots of presentations. Getting this right shows a level of polish and knowledge, and getting it wrong shows that either you weren’t paying attention, don’t know what you’re talking about, or just don’t care.

Here are some brand/naming problems I see:

• .NET – I often see people use .net or .Net, but the correct capitalization is ALL CAPS. There is NO excuse for this one—just do it right.
• .NET Framework 4 – With .NET 4, the marketing team dropped the .0 (like in 2.0 or 3.5), so stop saying “four-oh”—it’s just 4.
• Windows Phone 7 – It is Windows Phone 7, not Windows Mobile 7 (no such product) or Windows 7 Phone.
• Microsoft Visual C♯ 2010 – I often just say C♯ 4, but the actual name is Microsoft Visual C♯ 2010.
• Should you use ♯ or # with C♯? – Either is acceptable. However, Microsoft recommends the Music Sharp Sign (♯) for marketing material.
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate – That’s the full product name. The issue I see is people putting .NET in it, like Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2010. There is NO .NET in the name. The 2002 release called Visual Studio .NET was a specific version, but it’s not the product name.
• Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 – Many still use MOSS for SharePoint Server, but that’s incorrect for 2010. In 2007, it was Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS), but the Office part was dropped in 2010, along with the acronym.
• Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Foundation – Like MOSS above, people love using WSS for SharePoint Foundation. But in 2010, there’s no "W" in the name—it’s just Foundation.
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Documentation – A bad habit (guilty here too) is calling this MSDN. MSDN is not the help installed with Visual Studio! It’s a Microsoft website for developers, offering documentation, legal dev software, and a subscription service—not the local help files.
• MacLean – Thought I’d throw this in—it’s my surname. It has an ‘a’ in the second position and a capital L. It’s not Mclean, McLean, Maclean—or, for that matter, “Hey, you, stop kicking my dog…” 😜