>It always made sense to me. One thing that I do not understand me is the following:
>
>Whidbey is now known as VS 2005, the final marketing-production version name. Why is it that when you install it (Beta 2), it installs by default in C:\Program Files\Visual Studio 8 ?? (why 8? and not 2005 or Whidbey)
>
>Similar naming convention with MS Office. It's very confusing to think about Office 2003 or Office XP or Office 10, or 11. I have different versions at home and at work. I never remember which is Excel 9 or 10 or whatever.

There is still a full version associated behind the scenes. So Whidbey is VS 8, Orcas would be VS 9, etc. Office 12 is the next version (regardless of the formal name it is given later).