back to article Microsoft: It's not Metro, it's Windows 8

Microsoft has racked its collective brains to come up with a replacement name for what it had formerly called its Metro user interface, and after much deliberation, its new moniker will reportedly be ... Windows 8. Veteran Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley was the first to report the name change, citing unnamed industry sources …

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  1. David Webb

    "No, you definitely want the new version. But it's not a Windows 8 app, it's a desktop app."

    Simples, "It's a Windows Application" rather than "app", let's leave app with the mobile phones and use applications on the Desktop, or the Subway/Metro.

    Please note I have applied for a patent for "applications" which is currently pending but most likely will be accepted by the USPO.

    1. Danny 14
      FAIL

      so a windows application like office or an application like winzip? Will Windows 8 winzip appear in Windows 8 or just Windows 8 desktop? Will Windows 8 photoshop desktop appear in Windows 8 or just Windows 8?

      What about WinRT? Does that mean WinRT is Windows 8 without Windows 8?

      Genius.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        So

        Punter: So this Windows tablet with the quad core ARM processor will it run the Programs I've got on Windows 7?

        Salesman: No Sir, this is windows RT it will only run Windows 8 style apps

        Punter: So how will I get a new Windows machine that runs my Windows 7 Programs?

        Salesman: You'll need a Windows 8 tablet

        Far too much confusion for the average joe to deal with. EPIC FAIL

        1. h4rm0ny

          Re: So

          "Far too much confusion for the average joe to deal with. EPIC FAIL"

          The "average joe" typically doesn't think much about different GUIs or APIs and they especially don't spend a lot of time thinking "the name of this OS overlaps with the name of this API, I'm so confused.". They just grab a program, install it and expect it to run. Which it will because Win8 is backwards compatible with Windows 7.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: So

          "Punter: So this Windows tablet with the quad core ARM processor will it run the Programs I've got on Windows 7?

          Salesman: YES Sir"

          Hint : he's a computer salesman

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        WinZip?

        Dude, you need to stop living in the 90s.

        For those who do not recall, WinZip were a troll company who stuck a crappy GUI on top of PKWare's free tools and expected people to pay for it.

        Thanks to lots of users bleating about it installs appeared everywhere. As it was shareware, pretty much nobody actually paid for it but it still presented a license compliance problem in businesses.

        All the while free tools were available from PKWare who invented the ZIP format.

        Modern operating systems have for some time now had archive functionality built-in.

        A good and free archive manager that can handle an enormous variety of formats is 7zip. Please don't advocate the use of products from unscrupulous nagware pedlars.

        1. FIA Silver badge

          Re: WinZip?

          Dude, you need to stop living in the 90s.

          Ah yes, the 90s, when naive software developers still thought they had a right to be paid for the fruits of their labour.

          For those who do not recall, WinZip were a troll company who stuck a crappy GUI on top of PKWare's free tools and expected people to pay for it.

          PKZip was shareware; you were expected to pay for it.

          1. Nuke
            Headmaster

            @FIA - Re: WinZip?

            Wrote :- "PKZip was shareware; you were expected to pay for it."

            As you say, but to clarify I think you were only supposed to pay for the zip creation app; the unzip app was free AFAIR.

    2. NogginTheNog
      Stop

      Sod that!

      I've been calling applications that run on my computer 'apps' (and in the days before "Program Files" I used to install them into a directory called Apps) long before Apple came along and decided to land-grab the term for mobile device widgets.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Sod that!

        My Mum thinks apps are called apps because of the app in Apple.

        1. hplasm
          Happy

          Re: Sod that!

          So do Apple...

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Wensleydale Cheese
        Thumb Up

        Re: Sod that!

        @NogginTheNog

        "I used to install them into a directory called Apps"

        Likewise I started putting stuff I'd written myself into a directory called MyApps, long before Apple coined the term Apps.

      3. B Candler Silver badge

        Re: Sod that!

        In the old 1980's, Apple used to call these little applets "desk accessories", and they hung off the Apple menu.

        What goes around, comes around...

  2. Eddy Ito
    Windows

    app claptrap crap

    If they want to call the little bricks on the start (menu) screen tiles then why shouldn't they also refer to the associated apps as tiles, tile apps or fullscreen widgets? It would be easy enough to do something simple like add a slight border a few pixels wide to the "tile apps" (call it grout?) to indicate they don't run on the desktop and aren't just symbolic links to a real application that does run properly.

    Windows user because he's taking a plug from a bottle in a brown paper bag and I could use one too.

    1. Mike Row
      Thumb Up

      Re: app claptrap crap

      Better trademark the use of the term "Grout" to denote space between "Tiles" before I do it for you.

  3. LinkOfHyrule
    Facepalm

    Someone should send a cameraman into Redmond and film the Windows 8 development team at work - once it's over, package the footage up into thirty minuet episodes and market it as a spin off from "The Thick of It", as judging from what little information does spill its way out from there it sounds like its a right farce inside! Plus I can just imagine Ballmer going all Malcolm Tucker!

    1. Code Monkey
      Thumb Up

      Excellent idea!

      In honour of Ballmer, they could call it "The Thick".

  4. skuzzzy

    So, Windows Phone 7 & 7.5 have always and always will run Windows 8 style apps?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      ;p

      That explains why the sales of WP7 phones are doing so well... they're very future proof!

    2. lumpaywk

      not to mention the old Zune HD had a windows 8 style ui.

      1. Furbian
        Go

        Indeed...

        ... and wasn't that a rip roaring success.

    3. Danny 14

      sure winph 7.8 will run Windows 8 as long as it doesnt have Windows 8 full compatability.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Gentlemen/ladies, what we have here is the first proof of Skynet.

  5. Chad H.
    Trollface

    Abbot and Costello called

    They want their routine back.

    (in seriousness, it did get a chuckle)

  6. jim 45

    Making a version number part of the name...

    ... sets them up for endless confusion in the future. Someone at MS should stop this nonsense before it gets enshrined in 100 memos and directives, and tell marketing to come up with a (hopefully catchy) new name to use instead of Metro.

    1. frank ly
      Happy

      Re: Making a version number part of the name...

      How about 'Maestro' or 'Princess'? (Obscure cultural and age-related reference.)

      1. GitMeMyShootinIrons

        Re: Making a version number part of the name...

        "How about 'Maestro' or 'Princess'? (Obscure cultural and age-related reference.)"

        Or potentially Allegro and Montego? Of course, the Maestro interface would be as ugly as sin, while Allegro would try (and fail) to introduce a square controller.

        All the time, people will insist they should have stayed with the Mini...

        1. P. Lee

          Re: Making a version number part of the name...

          Wasn't the maestro well known for its digital dashboard?

          1. Matthew 25

            Re: Making a version number part of the name...

            Yes. And talking to you.

            1. Danny 14

              Re: Making a version number part of the name...

              they have loads to go for.

              Marina too.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Making a version number part of the name...

                Marina too.

                An unbridled pile of heartache, best scrapped.

                Much like my ex-wife, of the same name.

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: Making a version number part of the name...

                  Lynn: I picked up these brochures for the new Metro. It’s a lovely car. And if you do –

                  Alan: Lynn, I’m not driving a mini-Metro.

                  Lynn: But you do have to make substantial savings.

                  Alan: Lynn, I am not driving a mini-Metro.

                  Lynn: But if you do, you can keep Pear Tree Productions going with a skeleton staff of two, and –

                  Alan: There’s no point finishing the sentence, Lynn, because I am not driving a mini-Metro.

                  Lynn: But if you d –

                  Alan: Lynn! I’ll just speak over you.

                  Lynn: But –

                  Alan: No! Go on, try and finish the sentence and see what I do. Go on.

                  Lynn: With a skeleton staff of two –

                  Alan: I’m not driving a mini-Metro, I’m not driving a mini-Metro, I’m not driving a mini-Metro.

                  Lynn: No, no it’s different. It’s called a Rover 100 now.

                  Alan: They’ve rebadged it, you fool!

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Rover

                    Having owned both an Austin Metro and a Rover 100, I can tell you that the latter did in fact have significant improvements - despite the superficial resemblance. It was a completely different design of engine for a start. Compare it to its competitors: the Citroen AX, Peugeot 205, Ford Fiesta Mk2, Vauxhall Nova, and you will see that it was actually quite a beauty as well.

                    A friend of mine put the 1.8VVC (as used in MGF) into his heavily-modified 100 series. Scary but amazingly quick and agile!

              2. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
                Pint

                Re: Making a version number part of the name...

                The Minor wasn't half bad (apart from rusty wings). Ah, the unmistakable sound of an unbreakable A-series engine...

                1. Vic

                  Re: Making a version number part of the name...

                  > The Minor wasn't half bad (apart from rusty wings)

                  ...And the front trunnions which broke and left your front wheel collapsed up inside the wheel arch :-(

                  Vic.

                  1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

                    Re: Making a version number part of the name...

                    > And the front trunnions which broke

                    Ah yes, that too. Mostly if you forgot to grease the bottom joint on the kingpin, though. I bought my late Grandad's Marina (I was a student, it was my first car) and it had the same suspension. I remember finding the bolt hole on the suspension arm had worn oval, but managed to replace it before it failed so catastrophically.

                2. Nuke
                  Thumb Down

                  @Phil O'Sophical - Re: Making a version number part of the name...

                  Don't talk to me about Morris Minors, bloody awful things. I used to work on them as lead mechanic in a BL main agent. The front seats sagged until (if you were < 6ft) it was hard to see over that arched dashboard and bulging bonnet. How do you think the legends of little old ladies peering over the steering wheel on the front edge of their seat arose?

                  Some genius designer put the brake master cylinder inside the chassis member under the front carpet so when people checked the level all sorts of crap fell in, leading to it needing replacing (ever tried that?). Drum front brakes that never seemed to keep their adjustment, gearboxes that wore out their syncromesh ...

                  On the over-run something about the exhaust made them sound like a giant farting. I lived on a hill and could always tell when a Minor was going down.

                  Worst of all, the lower front steering swivels would wear until they failed catastrophically, with that wheel doing the splits. In London around 1980 I reckon I saw a Minor on its belly in the middle of the road, causing a traffic jam for miles around, about once a fortnight. It is a godsend that Minors were mostly used around town and not at higher speeds.

                  But itsA series engine *was* good. Reliable and indestructable. Yet some of the other BMC/BL cars criticised here (Minis, Metros, 1100/1300) also used the A series and are being slated. Not my experience, and I have worked on and driven most cars. They just happened to be around at a time when it became fashionable to bash anything British. My daughter's VW Polo was the most unreliable car I have ever come across, just for comparison.

          2. Xpositor

            Re: Making a version number part of the name...

            That spoke to you, as well. I remember using one as a pool car - very advanced for its day, even if somewhat gimmicky. Who would have thought that people would like to have "digital" dashboards and be able to have the car communicate with you?

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Making a version number part of the name...

            "Wasn't the maestro well known for its digital dashboard?"

            I remember seeing an ad for a nearly new Cavalier SRI. I had driven one and it went like stonk so I went to have a look.

            When I got to the garage it had already gone. The salesman had the cheek to offer me a Maestro instead.

            I bought an Audi instead.

        2. Kubla Cant

          Re: Making a version number part of the name...

          It never occurred to me before. The Austin Metro was a successor to the Austin 7!

          And the successor to the Austin Metro was... Austin aka BMC aka BL aka Rover going bust.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Making a version number part of the name...

          or even more ... Windows Van den Plas.

          Looks just like something else. Given a fancy name. Didn't sell many. Was superceded.

      2. Roger Greenwood
        Happy

        Re: Making a version number part of the name...

        Not obscure for me. They broke down a lot - mine was a Morris Ital from the same stable. I shall now be remembering all the happy times spent waiting for it to be fixed (using something else!)

    2. Patrick R
      Windows

      Re: Making a version number part of the name...

      W7, WP7, WP7.5, W8, W95 ... good luck to the historians.

      1. Gerhard den Hollander
        Angel

        W7 WP7 WP7.5 WP5.1

        I liked wp5.1 .. one of the best editors of it's time. To bad the printing of a document could take as much effort as the actual writing.

        At one point I'd made a keyboard macro (Ctrl-Alt-P I think) that did a save before a print. That one macro had saved me hours of work :)

    3. John Bailey
      Happy

      Re: Making a version number part of the name...

      Oh but it gets better..

      Is a Windows 8 app going to run on the the surface and the desktop, or is it going to be a Windows 8 surface only app? And just imagine the fun when explaining to someone that they got a surface that runs Windows 8, but can't run Windows 8 software on it. Only Windows 8 apps.. But if they want to run Windows 8 software they need a surface hat runs Windows 8..

      And people say Linux is confusing..

      Settling down with my popcorn factory shares to enjoy the show.

      1. DroidUser
        Linux

        Re: Making a version number part of the name...

        You know what... I'll just stick with Ubuntu :-)

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It doesn't matter

    Windows 8 and the Windows 8 UI are not going to be around for long, so the confusion will be short lived. Expect SP1 to bring back the traditional UI

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It doesn't matter

      I believe the SP1 you are referring to is called 'Windows 9', which will arrive by 2014.

      The sales of Windows 8, too, will also be short lived.

      1. kb
        Mushroom

        Re: It doesn't matter

        I have started to wonder if this isn't a "New Coke" kinda deal. After all my customers that got stuck on vista sure was happy to pay for Win 7. I mean if you think about it, if Metrosexual takes off then they win, if it bombs people rush to buy Win 7 and/or Win 8 which means...they win.

        Certainly seems like a nice way to make money, seeing as there isn't a downside. Lets face it people have too much Windows software to switch to OSX which is also too crazy priced on their desktops, Linux isn't gonna cut the mustard as its still too fiddly and bleeding edge, so you end up buying Windows one way or another. This way MSFT gets two sales for each unit, Metrosuckatitude and either Win 7 or Win 9....more money is more money folks.

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