Microsoft Re-Names OCS: LyncMicrosoft Re-Names OCS: Lync

You can stop wondering if you should call it "Wave 14" or "Communications Server 14" or "CS14" or "OCS 2010." Microsoft's would-be PBX-killer has its own unique moniker now.

The name "Lync" has been bubbling around the Web for a week or two in connection with Microsoft Office Communications Server/Communications Server "14", and Microsoft has now made it official: The new release of OCS, which had been code-named CS14, is called "Lync Server 2010."

As near as I can tell, your best way to learn about what's actually in Lync Server 2010 is to read Brent Kelly's in-depth feature on it here on No Jitter. Another source is the Microsoft TechNet website page on the product that they're still calling, on the site, "OCS 14".

The link (oh boy...) above is to the website for Microsoft's Release Candidate or lab version of the server. The server is Lync Server and the client is simply Lync.

As best I can tell, there's nothing significantly new or different between the early version of CS14 that have been in beta (and that Brent reviews), and the current release now known as Lync--at least nothing that Microsoft or partners seem to be calling attention to.

As someone who's recently been through a brand-name change, I'm sympathetic to the challenge and not inclined to snark about Lync. The name is what it is. It's what's inside that'll tell the tale.