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Microsoft Drops 'Metro' Name For Windows 8 UI
hawkinspeter writes "The BBC is reporting that Microsoft is dropping the 'Metro' name for the new Windows 8 UI. Apparently, the catchy new name they've settled on is 'Windows 8 style UI!' This has happened due to a (potential) trademark dispute with Metro AG, a German retail giant. Microsoft said, 'We have used Metro style as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines. As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialogue to a broad consumer dialogue we will use our commercial names.' I'm wondering if Microsoft planned this to get publicity for their new OS and UI or whether they just forget to check on how 'Metro' is used around the world."
the chose to use Bing to check. Shoulda used Google!
I'm sure "SlashdotMedia" will improve on all the wonders that Dice Holdings blessed us all with
Did Ballmer come up with it himself?
Me for stuff I work on I give my products Latin Code Names for the product. That give me time to get the product done and working well before I can come up with a more creative or marketing friendly name.
The code name Metro doesn't really tell us anything, it is just a place holder name to work on your project... Mainly because all your code is placed in a folder with a name and in a project with a name.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
M$ set to release the all new Ford Tablet, the Walmart Phone 9, and the Trader Joe's Web Application Framework!
...same as the old Microsoft
I have better UI name in mind... Windows Start UI
You forgot to sign your post:
--Smug Slashdotter who is 35 years old but emotionally about 15
just look up metro on google
a bunch of transit authorities use the word, there's metroPCS, some library consortium, a few other government entities, etc.
clearly, the word is common and abstract enough that anyone can claim it's usage
trademark law, copyright law, intellectual property: it is such an absurd, useless pox on civilization. i foresee and fervently hope that history will write of this century about how the whole concept of intellectual property law became abolished. it's such useless wasteful, lawyer mongering nonsense by trolls
we really need to just lose the entire concept of intellectual property from our societies. it is utterly destructive to the free flow of culture and ideas and does NOT do what it purports to do: protect creators. no, it empowers litigious rent-seeking parasites. so much wasted money energy and time
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
" 'Windows 8 style UI!'
Come on, there has to be a better alternative....
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
Apparently, the catchy new name they've settled on is 'Windows 8 style UI'
Well, it was either that, or "Microsoft Office Live Style UI Media Center Edition for Windows Genuine Advantage".
8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
Will the Windows 8 Style UI be available on my Windows Phone Series 7, or will I have to wait for the Windows Phone Series 8 to get the new Windows 8 Style UI.
Also, will any sea-shells, woodchucks or pickled peppers be included?
There was a free newspaper distributed in our subway called metro (because we call subway "metro" too), and they were able to force a name change there as well.
And I'm sure it had absolutely nothing to do with bad connotations to the more popular definition of the word, an extremely effeminate but not gay male.
No, Metro was supposed to be more than e.g the "Chicago" codename for Windows 95. Microsoft promotional materials showed photos of the New York subway signs to illustrate the big bold fonts and clutter-free design they were after.
It was too metrosexual. And that went out of fashion ages ago.
Have to think up some new ones...
change the squares to circles and call it 8ball.
-- Make America hate again!
They have not settled on this name, this is a temporary form to address what was known as Metro until a new name is been found, probably because there is an impending lawsuit in the works.
From TFA:
Victims of 9/11: <3000. Traffic in the US: >30,000/y
They can call it Windows Aero as no one is really that UI either! I can see this UI as an Epic Fail!
The Windows team is "working on a replacement term" according to the memo, "and plans to land on that by the end of this week." Until then, employees have been advised to refer to the Metro style user interface as the "Windows 8 style UI."
So "windows 8 style UI" is just a temporary name while the look for a new one.
I thought trademark name clashes were a non-issue if they are completely unrelated entities, such as retail giant and UI system. Otherwise, you'd think we would be running out of names pretty soon.
A quick Google search on Windows 7 UI system "Aero" reveals eight different companies or products using that name, on the first page.
I don't believe that this is the real reason Microsoft is changing the branding. If they thought it was valuable enough to keep, they would fight for it. But among tech-savvy users, Metro has become a punchline and a negative brand, just like Vista. I smell another Mojave coming up.
This search seems to tell a different story: http://www.google.com/?q=site%3Amicrosoft.com+metro
793,000 results.
Will take them a few days to clean that up.
You forgot to sign your post:
--Smug Slashdotter who is 35 years old but emotionally about 15
I don't think he forgto, more that he assumed it would be redundant statement of the entirely bleeding obvious.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
I suppose you learned how to spell under some previous president.
-- Make America hate again!
They should have dropped the whole thing, you know...
That's pretty what I expected in terms of intelligent substantive responses from hippies.
Libs, as smart as sea kelp.
Actually he did sign his post. What he forgot was adding any content. What new name is he proposing?
You can't can't polish a turd, after all.
Mom's got the fan boys up early today I see.
Since Metro's squares look like pony colors.
I thought trademarks were limited in scope to their market? How is a retail giant in the same market as an operating system provider?
If that is a problem, then why aren't the owners of the Paris Metro train system also complaining about it?
In any case, "Metro" is a generic word, so it shouldn't be 'owned' by a single company. (but, hey, Microsoft have been on the other end of that argument before, eh, "Windows", "Office", "Word"....)
I thought it was to distinguish them from Apple, with metro as in metrosexual.
A couple of classics from Microsoft's marketing department:
"Windows 8 Style UI" doesn't quite have the catchiness that Metro and Cocoa do, not to mention how old applications using this will sound in Windows 9...
Here are some other alternatives:
HiggledyPiggledy 2.0
Hunt and Poke: Home Edition
Explosive Nostril Overlayer
Thumbgasm
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. --Will
If that's really the case, why did Metro stick around as a name used by MS for so long when WP7 is out in production? They've been calling it that while selling product that uses it.
It sounds more like an excuse to me.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
Someone had to say it.
They should have fought for the rights to name it what we've all been waiting and hoping for: "Doors"
They've been calling it Metro for quite a while, including on all that stuff put out about Windows Phone 7. You know WP7, that phone OS of theirs that's in production. If codenames really don't stick around once its in production, then how do they explain that?
The truth here is that Windows 8 has been poorly received, and Metro is the reason why. Too many people hate it on the desktop. In an attempt to change the conversation they're going to change the name and hope that the negative buzz doesn't carry over.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
Political trolls should be ground up and fed to regular trolls.
Vote AC in 2012
Why do you hate our constitution?
I LIKE METRO TYPOGRAPHY
They should have call it how it looks like: Sokoban
if you didn't think the same thing as GP upon first seeing the name, you're the one who is 15, because you're too young to remember when the term metrosexual got 'big'
unless you're in DC or another city where the subway is named 'metro', then metrosexual is what the word 'metro' means, period.
is still a can of garbage, no matter what you try to name it.
Or they didn't think people would confuse a computer UI for a retail giant.
a google search turns up 4 top sponsored links on google:
Pella.com
Home Depot Windows
Sears Windows
Andersen Windows & Doors
sue them! LOL
what a fucking farce intellectual property is. destroy it, defy it, subvert it
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Confractus, circumfractus, intermissus,infractus are all perhaps more apt.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
I guess he forgot to sign his post
- Ignorant 15 year old who, thankfully for all of Slashdot, will be back in school soon.
Oh...and Get Off My Lawn!
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
as much as i promote M$, i wont be using Windows 8.
Windows is the operating system of just about EVERYBODY. Including people who may be conservative and even provincial. My guess is that a marketing person at Microsoft finally got heard and they decided to lose the name "Metro" after learning it was too urban and possibly "gay" aka "threatening" for some folks.
Windows ate style UI.
Seriously, your posts are a cry for help. Please seek it.
It's not cool at all; however, Sagan overreacted, and deserves to be laughed at for such. Even great men are not perfect. Sagan is my personal hero, and this episode humanises him to me.
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
He just wanted thousands of dollars...
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
In Paris, the Metro is the transportation's network, and by extension the name of the stations and of the trains.
The stations smell like piss, with beggars and tramps everywhere (and yes, I'm french).
Once there is a small problem on a line, all the traffic is slowed down.
The trains almost always are late, especially when the weather is hot.
Finally, the parisians always try to force their way in the train, even though it's full.
Why they chose this name is beyond me !
I just haven't been able to see a difference between Vista & Windows 7, yet one is reviled and one is revered.
So, changing the name and nothing else may be a good move - people seem guilible.
and just named it "Going out of Business".
It seems everyone has missed the part of the article where they say a new codename is currently being decided on. "Windows 8-style UI" is just temporary.
Yes, help all conservatives to rid the detestable statists from our federal and local governments and to restore the constitution designed to protect the citizens.
I am seeking such now.
They don't need to so long as they defend the trademark they have been awarded. As a large retailer they could start selling own-branded computers in a few weeks if they wanted to. They registered it, they paid for it, it is a well known brand...they just can't use it for building underground railways.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
The UI formerly known as Metro
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
So that works for the short term. What about Windows 9. If they use the same UI will it be called "Windows 8 UI Style' on Windows 9? Metro was much better. Too bad they fucked that up.
There are exceptions, of course; some terms are generics in some industry sectors, so I couldn't trademark "Keelson" for shipbuilding, but I could probably trademark "Keelson Business Software".
Retail department stores are particularly wide ranging in applicable classes, because they can sell so many different things and under their own brand names.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
In the US, by the way, Intel Corp was able to force an HR company to change its name from Gentium (Latin for "people") to, I think, Gentia. I suspect that would not have happened in Europe because the test is somewhat different.
I hope you aren't thinking that Microsoft should win because anything an American company wants to do should override the interests of foreigners.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
MicrosoftofficelivestyleUImediacentereditionforwindowsgenuineadvantage Gesellschaft mit beschrankte Haftung und Co. By making it a partnership, they don't have to file proper accounts.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Turd
Oh! I know this one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYyNDWjIivo
Mrs. Doubtfire
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Win Zebra. Because it looks like it was designed by a committee.
This whole thing is going to be a clusterfuck of Bob-like proportions. Anyone remember Microsoft Bob?
Metro or whatever they are calling it is NuBob. Nobody is going to like it. People are going to bitch so badly about no start menu that it's going to make the complaints about Windows Fistula... er, Vista... look like high praise.
The dev preview was the most horrible thing I have ever seen.
My guess is that the demand for compensation came in from someone's attorneys to Microsoft's headquarters and Microsoft jumped at the excuse political opportunity to change the name. Backed by Metro being hard to trademark as it's used by municipalities worldwide for mass transit and the name change was a shoe in from the legal side.
Marketing had a problem in that Metro already had a god awful reputation in the market. Enterprises won't touch Windows 8 because Microsoft forces the Metro interface as the default interface. They are simply trying to soften the blow of forcing the world to use the Metro interface by default whether they want to or not.
Think about it, they are betting one of the worlds largest companies on an interface that is universally loathed if your not on a tablet. This may well be the largest bet in history.
As far as I remember the law on trademark, the same name can be given to independent entity provided that there is no way the customer of one can mistake it for the otehr, in other word if tehy have a totaly different domain. Which is why apple could keep the name despite "apple record" existing, and why MS could keep metro for their UI despite a supermarket in germany having the name. It looks to me that they would use this rather as an excuse to avoid people googling metro in the future and getting all the negatvie feedback posted up to now.
So give us the script to your movie or STFU about intellectual property. Start by letting us mash up yours first.
Explain to a John Doe in what regard Windows 8 RT differs from Windows 8.
What's a Surface now? The multitouch tabletop hardware + software? Not anymore, now it's the tablet-netbook hybrid.
Even if they come up with a new name after the sleek marketing speak emanating from "Windows 8-style UI", it'll still cause confusion and introduce clutter for people looking up "Metro". Easily avoidable if only they had done their homework.
To those claiming it was just a codename and was never meant to be used publicly: A certain S.B. disagrees.
Because you use it to attack your fellow countrymen for having differing views to yours.
Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
... who thought it was called Metro as a way of saying, "Hey, this isn't gay!" ... ? I thought it was obvious. I guess my horribleUi-phobia clouds my judgement.
We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
I don't think the new name is particularly good, but at least I don't think it's lame like i did with "metro". I wish I could say the same for the actual UI that the name represents.
God awful ugly interface
...now why didn't they call it the "NeXT MS UI"? I mean... c'mon guys! You already used "New Technology" for Win NT and it worked wonderfully....
</snark> :)
.
No wonder Microsoft is on a downward spiral....
I suggest "TOMBSTONE".
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
> Apparently, the catchy new name they've settled on is 'Windows 8 style UI'
I'm no Microsoft fan, but TFS is wrong. Both linked articles aren't that long, so it's not hard to find what they've actually said. Microsoft has dropped "Metro" and is looking for a new name. Until they figure out a new name, they have asked developers to stop referring to the interface as "Metro" and use "Windows 8 style UI" instead. But the point is, Microsoft has not settled on this as a new name.
From the BBC article:
Instead of Metro, Microsoft has told developers to simply refer to the blocky display as a "Windows 8 style UI" for the time being.
From the Verge article:
Until then, employees have been advised to refer to the Metro style user interface as the "Windows 8 style UI."
i believe that control of your information is the only valid form of "intellectual property" control. in other words, if i am a major hollywood studio, and i have the files for my new film that no one else has seen, if someone steals those files, i would be the first to support prosecution of the thief. what i do not support is that once the studio releases that movie to the internet, that they have a right to control how those files are used on your computer. if a studio releases the files to projectionists at theaters, they also retain control: they can screen people who enter theater and confiscate recording equipment. that's fair too
you believe i am a hypocrite because i don't share with you information. this is a gross mischaracterization of what i believe and proves you an ignorant simpleton on the subject matter
no, i would only be a hypocrite if i shared with you information, and then thought i was still entitled to dictate to you how you use that information once it is under your control
you don't win arguments by misunderstanding what someone stands for
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
It' s just as well -- software engineers tend to be Metrosexualless anyway.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
"From now on, pigs shall be called Rainbow Unicorns."
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
I know, "Little Boxes" they can even use that cute 60s song by Pete Seeger that will draw em in!
"Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business ...umm well, maybe that's a bit too descriptive for it...
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same."
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
How about "Windows Phone 8 Phone Graphical GUI Interface for Phones." If it's not already taken.
Take off every Sig. For great justice.
Instead of assuming that they don't know how to do a web search, isn't it more reasonable to assume that they did it, found 100 references to metro, and decided that they were distinct enough not to be a problem? Remember when Pilot came out, got sued by the Pilot pen company, and became PalmPilot and then just Palm?
I'm no Microsoft apologist, but let's assume that the company isn't full of complete idiots.
Despite corporations seeing it as "property" it has a useful purpose, to keep the consumer from getting ripped off. Otherwise, you could by an expensive Snap-On tool, only to find out it's a cheap pot metal knock-off legally using the Snap-On name. The way it is now, Snap-On will go after the offender in order to protect its name, which protects us, the consumer.
tiles and tiles and nothing fun.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Microsoft(c) Windows(tm) Phone Experience PE Live 2012 - Home Professional Extreme, Version 3.0 (SP 4.32.1.192)
"trademark dispute with Metro AG, a German retail giant."
And they're just a retailer, not a software and hardware company, so there would be no real confusion to any half-assed consumer.
Therefore there is no trademark dispute. Microsoft is avoiding this lawsuit even though they're in the right, for once.
I wonder why they'd avoid this?
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
only they would get rid of that shitty new interface altogether. No matter what you call it Metro is pure shit.
No matter what they call it, it still SUCKS.
"Windows 8 style UI"
shall become known as "Wait-style UI" or "Weight-style UI"
Thin crust edition?
Amateurs.
It is clearly going to be called Microsoft Windows 8 2012 SE UI for Tablet, Phone, and Desktop Edition featuring Bing Connectivity (TM) or MW812SEUITPDBC for short.
Windows Hip. Because it is hip to be square.
MetroAG is the fifth largest retailer in the world. I'm pretty sure it has a little something to do with that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_AG
The code name Metro doesn't really tell us anything,
Yes it does. They have been using Metro with WP7 since launch.
It describes an interface generally composed of tiles, where more content exists to one side or the other and that content is visually truncated at start so as to reveal you need to scroll to see more.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
how about iMetro?
That should avoid the trademark issue. The website is already taken though.
MS Edsel.
Or perhaps Windows Pinto . Same kind of late '70's, clunky design, bad color pallet choices. I mean, it's bound to explode in the ass-end eventually, right?
~Just as a thing fails if it lacks a kernel, so too it fails if it lacks a skin. ~ Rumi, Discourses
Even if it's not the official name, it's the name people know it by, and they're going to continue using it whether it's officially sanctioned or not.
It's called The Metro in Kansas City as well.
everbody, everwhere, steal this plot!
Mickey Mouse pilots a river steamboat, suggesting that he himself is the captain. He cheerfully whistles "Steamboat Bill" and sounds the boat's three whistles. Soon the real captain appears (Pete) and angrily orders Mickey off the bridge. Mickey makes a Bronx cheer at Pete, and then Pete kicks him, making him fall down the stairs, slip on a bar of soap on the boat's deck and land in a bucket of water. A parrot makes fun of him, and Mickey throws the bucket over the bird.
Now piloting the steamboat himself, Pete bites off some chewing tobacco and spits into the wind. The spit flies backward and rings the boat's bell. Amused by this Pete spits again, but it hits him in the face.
The steamboat makes a stop at "Podunk Landing" to pick up a cargo of various livestock. Just as they set off again, Minnie appears, running to catch the boat before it leaves. Mickey does not see her in time, but she runs after the boat along the shore and Mickey takes her on board using the cargo crane.
Landing on deck, Minnie accidentally drops a guitar and some sheet music for the song "Turkey in the Straw" which are eaten by a goat. The two mice use the goat's body as a phonograph which they play by turning the animal's tail like a crank. Mickey uses various objects on the boat as percussion accompaniment and "plays" the animals like musical instruments.
Finally an unamused Captain Pete appears and puts Mickey to work peeling potatoes. In the potato bin, the same parrot from before appears in the port hole and mocks Mickey again. The mouse throws a partially peeled potato at him, knocking him into the river below. The film ends with Mickey laughing at the sound of the bird struggling in the water.
Nahhh, for an interface that atrocious I suggest they just go whole hog and call it "Gay".
Microsoft needs to succeed in the smartphone market, so it's essential that they emphasize the phone capabilities in their product names. With this in mind, the GUI name should be:
"Phone Phone Phone Phone Phone Phone Phone Windows 8 Phone Phone Outlook XBox Phone Phone Phone Bing Phone Phone GUI and Phone."
Lovely Phone. Wonderful Phone.
Take off every Sig. For great justice.
No, that's called the bible.
-- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
The *real* reason is that metro was taking an hour or two to groom himself on every boot . . . they got worried about this even before they discovered what his hair dryer was doing to the power budget on handhelds . . .
hawk
Innovation by copying.
I suggest they rename it MeToo
This is a wonderous name as it also harkens back to those halcyon days before XP, as in
ME 2.0
Cryonics - Keep cool and carry on.
Someone has already thought to use the name Metro for a company who would have thought?
Seriously though there is a crap load of "Metro" companies that I know of:
LA Metro (among others)
Metro PCS
Metro a grocery chain in Toronto area
Metro in Germany
Metro (a collection of urban newspapers in Canada (and probably elsewhere))
I realise the law is ridiculous but it seems silly that you could get sued for a name of feature of a product because someone's regional company has the same name. I'm pretty sure someone has a company named Windows.
I propose "Trainwreck".
The theme is still consistent with the original name, but with... a twist. YEEEEEEAAAHHH
I write code for a living and yet window's terminology count goes beyond a programming language's dictionary. They should have kept "Bing" for their search engine, they should have kept "Microsoft Live" for the msn stuff, and they should have just kept "metro" or whatever they want for their UI. They change names around and it gets confusing. It's not edgy, it's terrible. The names have all been terrible so far but at least "Metro" could have been used for say, an augmented reality app? I swear they just put words in a hat and then draw one out for whatever idea they have and name it that. They may even have a second hat that gives it an expiration date. Microsoft sounds so disorganized these days, I'm really, really sad to believe this.
With the bots and all.
Given the way it looks, how about changing the name of the whole thing from "Windows" to "Boxes"?
... retro.
Does anybody remember what the Wii was called before it was the Wii? I don't, but I remember everybody got in a giant uproar about how the developer name was so much better than the new name.
We forget how websites looked before their layout changes, we forgot what products were called before their commercial release. It's not new and it doesn't really affect anything so don't see why people are reacting this way.