Microsoft uses a variety of fictional companies in the documentation and training material for its products. Microsoft documentation and learning materials often contain fictional scenarios and descriptions of how their products can be deployed and used in these scenarios. Many of these companies are used in such examples. Some of the fictional companies have associated websites, almost all of which redirect to microsoft.com.
| Name | Website | Usage |
|---|
| A. Datum Corporation | adatum.com- Example company in Active Directory Federation Services 2.0 demos[1]
- Example URL in Microsoft Office
|
| AdventureWorks Cycles | adventure-works.com- Used as an example in Microsoft CRM[2] and Biztalk[3] training material
- Used in example databases for Microsoft SQL Server[4]
- Used in tutorials for Microsoft Office XP on disk.
- Also used as a sign on a store which can be seen in Forza Horizon.
|
| Alpine Ski House | alpineskihouse.com- Used as an example company in Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 sample application[5]
|
Awesome Computers- Used as an example company in Windows Server 2003 documentation[6]
|
Baldwin Museum of Science- Used as an example location for MapPoint .Net documentation[7]
|
| Blue Yonder Airlines | [https://web.archive.org/web/20090406021611/http://www.blueyonderairlines.com/ blueyonderairlines.com]* (has been both a demo website[8] and a redirect page to microsoft.com[9] in the past, but is no longer a functional website) - Used as an example site for various features of Windows Installers, including embedding links in installers and creating URL based installers[10]
- Used on airplanes in the background of Forza Motorsport 6 and 7, as well as on billboards in Forza Horizon 3.
|
| City Power & Light |
| Coho Vineyard | date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (cohovineyarddemo2 is no longer reachable.)*- Used as a demo company in early Office 365 introduction videos
|
| Coho Winery | cohowinery.com- Used as an example in documentation for XML Serialization [11] and Visual Basic [12]
|
| Coho Vineyard & Winery |
Consolidated Messenger- Used in some Microsoft Certification Exams questions
|
| Contoso Ltd. | contoso.com and contoso.net* (contoso.net is used in Microsoft documentation, but is not owned by Microsoft) - Contoso.com is used as a demo domain in Microsoft Exchange training material
- "contoso.com/Service.asmx?WSDL" is used in Microsoft InfoPath Designer 2013 when designing a "Web Service".
- "Contoso Toolbar", a fictional toolbar, is used to demonstrate the Add-on Performance Advisor in Internet Explorer 9
- Contoso.com is used as an example domain in virtually all Microsoft Certification Exams
- Contoso.net is used as an example domain in the account configuration wizard from Microsoft Outlook 2007, while Contoso.com is used as an example in the help file
- Contoso.net is used as an example domain in Microsoft Lync Server 2010 documentation[13]
- Used as an example company in Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 sample application[14]
- Used an example website in Internet Information Services
- All those companies are used in Demo Dynamics AX 2012 environment and in others versions of Dynamics AX : Contoso Consulting - Contoso Consulting FR - Contoso Consulting GB - Contoso Consulting USA - Contoso Entertainment China - Contoso Entertainment Japan - Contoso Entertainment System - Contoso Entertainment System Brazil - Contoso Entertainment System Germany - Contoso Entertainment System India - Contoso Entertainment System Russia - Contoso Entertainment System USA - Contoso Group - Contoso Orange Juice - Contoso Process Industry- Contoso Retail - Contoso Retail FR - Contoso Retail USA .
- Contoso.com is used as an example domain in Windows Sockets 2 documentation[15]
|
| Contoso Bank | Contoso Bank Website- Demo site for SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer
|
| Contoso Hotel | contosohotel.com (no longer owned by Microsoft)- Contoso Hotel has been used in several Microsoft Office Tutorials, for example how to embed a PowerPoint Presentation into a website PowerPoint Tutorial Example
|
| Contoso Pharmaceuticals |
cpandl.com- Used as an example in documentation for XML Serialization[11]
|
CRONUS (Multiple)- Used as example company in Dynamics NAV[16]
|
| Electronic, Inc. |
| Fabrikam, Inc. | fabrikam.com- Used as an example domain in Remote Desktop Connection
- Used as an example eCommerce Storefront in the fashion industry in Dynamics AX 2012 Retail R2
- Used as a sample company for testing and development in Dynamics GP[17]
- Used as a fictional computer manufacture in FlexGo documentation
- Used as an example company in documentation for Outlook Electronic Business cards[18]
- Used as an example company in a Publisher brochure template
- Used as an example company in Skype for Business screenshots
- Used to publish a sample Program on an Example of the Program Compatibility Assistant in the Windows Help and support
|
| Fourth Coffee | fourthcoffee.com and fourthcoffee1.com*- fourthcoffee1.com was used as a demo site for Microsoft Office Live
- Fourth Coffee is used as site template in Microsoft WebMatrix
|
| FusionTomo | www.fusiontomo.com- Demo company used in MOS certification training
|
| Graphic Design Institute |
| Humongous Insurance | humongousinsurance.com |
| Itexamworld.com |
| LitWare Inc. | [https://web.archive.org/web/20050211020553/http://www.litware.com/ litware.com] and litwareinc.com |
| Lucerne Publishing | lucernepublishing.com- Used in Office 365 Training.
|
| Margie's Travel | www.margiestravel.com- Example URL in Microsoft Excel
|
date=August 2014}}*- Demo site for SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer
|
| Northridge Video |
| Northwind Traders | www.northwindtraders.com- Demo company for database capabilities in Microsoft Access.
- Example domain used in the .NET API documentation for starting processes[19].
|
| Olympia | https://olympia.windows.com/?OCID=WIP_r_ITPro6_Body_Olympia- Used to give business Insiders a way to try out features like Windows Information Protection (WIP), Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) and Host Intrusion Prevention Systems (HIPs) all running in a real-world enterprise environment.
|
| Parnell Aerospace |
| ProseWare, Inc. | proseware.com- ProseWare Gizmo is a family of fictional PCI expansion cards, which were used to illustrate a variety of concepts relating to Windows driver development in the WDK documentation.
|
| School of Fine Art | fineartschool.net- Used as an example domain in the help file for Microsoft Outlook 2007
- Used as an example location for MapPoint .Net documentation[7]
|
| Southbridge Video |
| StrikeStrike | strikestrike.com* (Site is no longer owned by Microsoft) - Demo site for SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer
|
| TailSpin Toys | tailspintoys.com- Used by Microsoft Australia in various Team Foundation Server demo environments and training materials.
- Used by Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System as a Demo environment.
|
Tailwind Traders- Used by Microsoft Ignite | The Tour. It is a forward-thinking retail business with a diverse set of needs.
|
| Tasmanian Traders |
| The Phone Company |
| Trey Research Inc. | treyresearch.net- Example company in Active Directory Federation Services 2.0 demos
- Some of the company's properties are seen in some missions in Microsoft Flight Simulator X e.g. "Oil Rig Transport"
- "Trey" is a nickname for Bill Gates
|
The Volcano Coffee Company- Example website for IIS 4.0
|
| WingTip Toys | wingtiptoys.com- Used in the Microsoft Office Frontpage 2003 demo
- Used in the Small Business Server test drive
|
| Wide World Importers | wideworldimporters.com- Used by Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System as a Demo environment supplier.
|
| Woodgrove Bank | [https://web.archive.org/web/20111002030654/https://www.woodgrovebank.com/ woodgrovebank.com]* No longer active.- Acquired with NCompass Resolution, which became Microsoft Content Management Server; used in NCompass and MCMS website demos
- Demo site used to show security features in Internet Explorer
|
1. ^{{cite web |url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2006.07.simplify.aspx |title=Simplify Single Sign-on Using ADFS |publisher=Microsoft Technet |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
2. ^{{cite web|url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa645136.aspx |title=ReportViewingUrl |publisher=MSDN Library |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
3. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27148 |title=BizTalk Server 2010 Administrator Training Kit |publisher=Microsoft Download Center |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
4. ^{{cite web |url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms124659(v=SQL.100).aspx |title=AdventureWorks Sample OLTP Database |publisher=MSDN Library |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
5. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3064 |title=PerformancePoint Server 2007 Sample: Planning Data |publisher=Microsoft Download Center |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
6. ^{{cite web|title=ISP model|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc780576(WS.10).aspx|publisher=Microsoft Technet|accessdate=2 December 2011}}
7. ^1 {{cite web|url = http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms980188.aspx |title = Maximizing Address Find Rates in MapPoint .NET Version 3.0 |publisher = Microsoft Technet |accessdate=2 December 2011}}
8. ^{{cite web |url=http://blueyonderairlines.com |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406021611/http://www.blueyonderairlines.com/ |archivedate=2009-04-06|title=Blue Yonder Airlines |deadurl=yes |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
9. ^{{cite web |url=http://blueyonderairlines.com/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406021611/http://www.blueyonderairlines.com/ |archivedate=2009-04-06 |title=Blue Yonder Airlines |deadurl=yes |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
10. ^{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/query/dd407936 |title=Hyperlink Control |publisher=Microsoft Technet |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
11. ^1 {{cite web|url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.xml.serialization.xmlserializernamespaces.aspx |title=Download a File in Visual Basic |publisher=MSDN Library |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
12. ^{{cite web|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1say4ws7.aspx |title=XmlSerializerNamespaces Class |publisher=MSDN Library |accessdate=19 February 2017}}
13. ^{{cite web|url=http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/E/E/FEEAF18B-7F9C-41C6-8FBF-899390902B94/LS_Supportability.doc |title=Microsoft Lync Server 2010 |publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=2 December 2011}}
14. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=17165 |title=PerformancePoint Server 2007 Contoso Demo Data |publisher=Microsoft Download Center |accessdate=24 September 2013}}
15. ^{{cite web|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms738520(v=vs.85).aspx |publisher=MSDN Library |title=getaddrinfo function (Windows)|accessdate=18 June 2018}}
16. ^{{cite web|url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh997462(v=nav.90).aspx |title=CRONUS International Ltd. Demonstration Database|publisher=MSDN Library |accessdate=8 March 2017}}
17. ^{{cite web|title=How to Uninstall or Reinstall the Sample Company in Microsoft Dynamics GP When You are Using SQL Server or MSDE|url=https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/northamerica/GP/learning/documentation/how-to-articles/MSD_GPReInstallSampleCompanySQLMSDE|publisher=Microsoft}}
18. ^{{cite web|url=http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/add-change-or-remove-a-picture-for-a-contact-HP010013779.aspx#BM4 |title=Update the picture on the Electronic Business Card to match the contact picture |publisher=Microsoft Office |accessdate=10 September 2014}}
19. ^https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.diagnostics.processstartinfo.windowstyle?view=netframework-4.7.2