I had a call from a chap at the BBC earlier who wanted to pick my brains for this piece on weird tech codenames. Only, I was surprised not to be able to answer his questions properly. Speaking very generally,most talked-about Intel codenames are named after American places(Penryn is in California) and Microsoft's tend to be mountainous areas (Whistler, Longhorn).

Interestingly, even though Windows 7 was previously known as Vienna, its original form was codenamed Blackcomb, after the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort in British Columbia. Blackcomb was originally meant to supercede Whistler (Windows XP) but Longhorn (Windows Vista) got in between.

The BBC man was ringing as a response to Midori, the new kernel-based micro OS that Microsoft Research is currently looking at. And I've not a clue where the name comes from- and neither has the rest of the internet, although it seems to have several Japanese connections not least the meaning of the word 'green'.

I also wonder if - because Midori is so early in development - 'proper' Microsoft codenames will only be assigned when commercial products are being developed. Which led me to wonder, do they just make these names up over a cup of tea? Mind you, bizarre codenames aren't limited to Microsoft - the very website you're reading now was known as 'Project Steel' before it was launched.

Anyway, I have learnt something new today - albeit too late to tell our BBC man about. Larrabee, Intel's new graphics wonder chip, is again an American placename. Only there are two. Larrabee in Iowa and Larrabee in Wisconsin.