A potential trademark dispute has forced Microsoft to drop the Metro name for Windows 8's blocky, tile-based interface.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19108952


Comments (Page 1)
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on Aug 04, 2012

What works for America doesnt always go over so well elsewhere.

Chevrolet had problems marketing the Chevy Nova automobile in Latin America. Since no va means "it doesn't go" in Spanish, the oft-repeated story goes, Latin American car buyers shunned the car, forcing Chevrolet to embarrassedly pull the car out of the market.

on Aug 04, 2012

SHITRO Is my 2 cents for the new name.

on Aug 05, 2012

Right! I'm going to call BS on this. Not that MS is dropping the Metro name but because they say it's a copyright issue. A German retail giant can stop a name for an OS, a common used name for a lot of other businesses, hmmmm. It's not the US, think a European court could see the difference between a product and a company.

I'll put my tin foil hat on ... and say the MS found it too much of a problem securing web sites, trying to market a product that is now has a tarnished name and just generally think that what they had planed for the new look 'Metro' is not going their way.

So a lot of smart guys got around a big table and asked how can we fix this bad Metro perception. I know lets call it Windows 8 ...

on Aug 05, 2012

I like you......you're funny. Here's a good alternative. Windows Egg......

on Aug 05, 2012

Okay, so what's this German retail giant going to do about the French using "Metro" for their underground rail system?

And the bus company in Tasmania called "Metro"?

Or the computer repair place in Brisbane called Metro PC?

Not to mention the George St. Brisbane bar called the Metro

And my dress-up/going into the big city shoes... called my Metro shoes, as opposed to my stay-at-home slippers named: "my stay-at-home slippers".

Yeah, Metro is too widely used to be trademarkable, in my opinion.... and I'm sure the Metro Brothel owners in Ipswich would agree, as would the licensee of the Metro Hotel [orright, it's really called the Metropole, but what's a little pole between friends] in Brisbane St. Ipswich.

Anyway, that's all beside the point, MS needs to change the name from Metro, and I vote for 'Optional'... as in optional by name and optional by nature.  In fact, I reckon there should be a Windows 8 version that is Metro -less... to save those of us with any remaining sense and dignity the pain and indignation of having to click the opt out of Metro button during installation.

Moreover, I propose that MS and Mozilla bite the browser wars bullet and have the latest version of Firefox pre-installed on ALL Windows 8 versions.  I mean, with metered internet these days, and it's so expensive, too, it's costing us to download Firefox and I can't see why MS and Mozilla just can't get along.

The other thing I want in Windows 8 is a Total Google blocker.... do that, MS and I'll happily buy 2 licenses for $39.99.

on Aug 05, 2012

tazgecko
A German retail giant can stop a name for an OS,

Perhaps they didn't want their good name associated with an impending fail of epic proportions.

Where were they when American motorists were introduced to the Geo Metro?  1/3 of a car with 3/8 of a motor.

on Aug 05, 2012

Wizard1956

Perhaps they didn't want their good name associated with an impending fail of epic proportions.


on Aug 05, 2012

this reminds me when cadbury got all psycho over the colour purple and bought the rights to it cause another company wanted to use it...

 

i have a name for microsoft if they want it....

 

"Hell Gates"

"Microsperm"

"Kill Bill"

.... just a few suggestions...

on Aug 05, 2012

Vampothika
"Microsperm"

Isn't that the particularly virulent strain that could break through condoms, and was developed by a former world leader to ensure his seed carried on the family name?

on Aug 05, 2012

I like the name of the article listed in the related threads are at the bottom of that news post titled Valve: Windows 8 a 'catastrophe''.  So that's an excellent Metro replacement name, just call it the 'catastrophe' UI!

on Aug 05, 2012

Windows Fiasco  

 

Hey, that does have a nice ring to it.

 

on Aug 05, 2012

That's a real good one too Wiz!

on Aug 05, 2012

Well, if they want to get back to being able to customise things instead of The One Desktop To Rule Them All, how about <Insert Name Here>?  Let the users decide on a witty name to apply when the new interface is loaded.

on Aug 05, 2012

MarvinKosh
Let the users decide on a witty name to apply when the new interface is loaded.

 

Window PAIN.

on Aug 05, 2012

Windows Bain.

Windows H8.

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