The thread name can only be assigned by the developer, and by default, a new .NET thread is nameless. Although naming a thread is optional. Windows does not have the ability to assign a name to a thread. In the past, when developers debugged native Windows code, they had to record the new thread ID in every debugging session (using the Threads debug window). These IDs were not only confusing (especially when multiple threads were involved) but also changed in each new debugging session. The Thread's Debug window of Visual Studio .NET displays the value of the Name property, thus easing the task of tracing and debugging multithreaded applications. In addition, when a named thread terminates, VS .NET will automatically trace to the Output window the name of that thread, as part of the thread's Exit method.