Microsoft’s Product Renaming History Now Has Its Own Tracker Website, Thanks to an MVP

Microsoft has renamed so many products that keeping track can feel like its own full-time job. Now, one Microsoft MVP has built a site for exactly that problem.

Microsoft’s rebrand history now has its own tracker

As reported by The Register, Loryan Strant created the Microsoft Rebrand Registry after conversations with fellow MVPs about Microsoft’s constantly shifting product names (via Neowin). The registry currently covers 72 Microsoft products and 158 names used across their histories. It also calculates an average product name lifespan of roughly two years and 11 months.

That makes the site more than a joke. It offers a quick way to understand why familiar Microsoft terminology keeps changing. Strant says the project was created to provide a useful resource and hopefully make visitors “chuckle.”

Several products have already collected three different names. The list includes Azure AI Search, Azure DevOps, Azure SQL Database, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

The registry even tries to predict Microsoft’s next rebrands

The project also looks ahead by examining naming history and Microsoft’s rebranding patterns. Azure App Service, Azure SQL Database, Azure DevOps, and Dynamics 365 Field Service currently face an “elevated” likelihood of another name change.

That analysis has limits. The registry focuses on surviving products, while successor products create another layer of complexity. Strant has also built other Microsoft-focused projects, including a product naming reference and a Microsoft cloud logo archive.