The Name Game..With Microsoft

Microsoft makes great software.  More computers use Windows than any other operating system available.

They make a great office suite and they also make my favorite web editor, Expression Web.

But Microsoft has a naming problem. They manage to name the different versions of Windows with names that don’t confuse folks, but some of the products they make have names that surely confuse.

If you want to tell someone about Explorer, you better be sure to preface Explorer with either Internet or Windows. While it’s true both of these products actually explore something, they don’t explore the same things.

Then there is Outlook.  ‘Do you mean Outlook Express or the Outlook that comes with Microsoft Office?’ (There is no telling how many times I have asked that question when trying to troubleshoot an email problem!) And there is outlook.com as well!

Not to be outdone with naming email programs, here comes Windows Mail, then comes Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Mail 2012. These are all email programs, but they are totally NOT the same.

There was a confusion about Messenger as well. There was Windows Messenger Service and just plain Messenger. I think both of those are obsolete, but I imagine they may be in use by some folks. (Microsoft bought Skype and Messenger is now incorporated into Skype.)

Microsoft’s Windows 8 is still having a problem with names. While in the beta stage, The start page for windows 8 was being called ‘Metro’ by Microsoft. (Still is by a lot of folks!)  But then a Germany-based conglomerate called Metro AG, said, ‘Metro’ is their trademark, so now that ugly start screen is called ‘Windows 8 Modern UI’ which doesn’t make it look any better.

As if that isn’t enough, now Microsoft is having a problem with the name ‘SkyDrive’, the online service for too many things to count. How could they have not seen this blunder coming?  I think they need new trademark lawyers or whoever it is that searches trademarks.

Then again, maybe they need someone to name everything else, and just stop using outlook, explorer, live and probably some other unoriginal names as well.