Why, it’s the Android Operating system, that’s what’s for dessert! Specifically, the nicknames for that operating system.
Computer programmers love to give things code names, especially when they’re in development. For example, Windows 95 was codenamed “Elroy” (I believe.) The IBM PCjr was codenamed the Peanut.
When you write about such technology, you end up using the same silly code names. I’ve had contracts for books based on the technology’s internal code name. That’s weird.
Google has apparently decided to confess up front about its product code names, especially for the Android operating system. (The same one used on zillions of phones and tablets.) Rather than go by boring numbers (like Microsoft and Apple), Google names its various Android releases after desserts.
It started with Android OS version 1.5, which was dubbed Cupcake. My guess is that it was probably an internal name, a code name like Elroy or Peanut.
Android 1.6 was codenamed Donut.
I don’t know if it was intentional to start naming the desserts alphabetically at that point. I mean, what happened to Apple Pie and Bunt Cake? Or, maybe like Drive C on your PC, those A and B versions of Android are relics from the past and, well life starts at C? Who knows?
Android 2.0 and 2.1 were known as Eclair.
While I was working on my first Android phone book, rumors of Android Froyo came out. That’s version 2.2.
Froyo? Wasn’t he in The Lord of the Rings?
Nope. Froyo stands for Frozen Yogurt. I didn’t know that at the time.
Then came the rumors of Android 2.3, which was dubbed Gingerbread.
Presently Gingerbread has the largest market share of Android devices, coming in at 64 percent. Froyo is next at just over 17 percent. Those two versions are specifically covered in my book, Android Phones For Dummies.
Android 3.x is named Honeycomb. It’s the tablet-only version of Android. Only a few tablets have adopted it. Instead, they’re waiting for Android 4.0:
Android 4.0 is dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich.
At this point, it seems like everyone knows what Ice Cream Sandwich is. In fact, I would offer that there are more people who know what “Ice Cream Sandwich” is than who know that it’s Android version 4.0.
Also, if you’re really cool, you say ICS (eye-see-es) instead of Ice Cream Sandwich.
The Big Deal with ICS (See? I do it, too.) is that it runs on both phones and tablets. Google has their act together when it comes to merging their mobile operating system technologies. Either that, or they’re just following Apple’s lead.
The most current version of the Android Operating system, at least which has been announced, is Jelly Bean.
Jelly Bean is Android 4.1.
What’s next? It would be the letter K. Key Lime Pie? Only time will tell.
Windows 95’s codename was actually Chicago; Microsoft named their Windows releases in the mid/late 90s after real world places – 95 was Chicago, NT 4 was Cairo, 98 was Memphis, and there was one unreleased version of Windows that had the codename Nashville.
Seems to be some Android developers have a sweet tooth. Well, as long as they don’t try eating the phones, it’ll be fine? 😛
Comment by linuxlove — July 13, 2012 @ 6:12 am
Oh yeah, I forgot. NT 3.51 was Daytona, Win95 OSR2.1 was Detroit, XP was Whistler, Vista was Longhorn and while we’re at it, we can even throw in the unreleased Windows Neptune. So all of these codenames are real world places. Shame Microsoft doesn’t have any more good codenames anymore; I blame Sinofsky for that.
Does it seem odd that I have a list of Windows codenames memorized? I guess that’s what happens when you spend time around a beta community.
Comment by linuxlove — July 13, 2012 @ 6:17 am
Thanks for the correction. For some reason, I remember the publisher referring to Windows 95 a “Milo.” It’s wasn’t Milo, though, it was Elroy and she just called it Milo. Maybe Elroy was one of the interim releases. But, yes, now that you mention it Windows 95 was “Chicago.”
Comment by admin — July 13, 2012 @ 8:11 am