Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has removed the “metro” tag appearing in the Windows 8 user interface, an action that has seen it face criticism over possible litigation issues, despite eluding the case by saying, “it was just a code name all along.”
However, according to the Register, the move might have been instigated by a possible litigation over the use of the code name “Metro”, as reports from Europe suggestively indicate that the name may have been registered by a certain company or individual, that did not authorize its use by Microsoft.
According to Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 developments, this final twist may have come a little too late, for the company to suggest that the tag name “Metro” was nothing but a code name. Indeed, the Register notes that, Microsoft had already given the final build of its Windows 8 operating system to computer manufacturers so it can be installed on new machines.
According to a release schedule, third-party developers should be getting the release version of Windows 8 on August 15, while Windows 8 PC tablets are scheduled to hit the market on October 26.
A spokesperson from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is quoted in the report saying, “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 dialog to a broad consumer dialog, we will use our commercial names.”
Consequently, based on the various release dates, as highlighted, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 8 developers could be in for it, and may be burning the midnight oil, to come up with another word to wrap up the “controversial user interface”, contrary to the relaxed mode, exhibited by the spokesperson in his remarks concerning the issue.
Various sources believe that this was never a planned shift as the spokesperson suggested, the Register remarks various quotes, suggesting a “litigation dialogue” between Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and another important partner from Europe; the report even suggests that one of the sources claimed to have seen a memo saying, “”working on a replacement term … and plans to land on that by the end of this week”.
Additionally, the company employees have been directed to discontinue using the word “Metro” in all Microsoft products, including Windows Phone Office 2013, and all related apps, market places, and web sites. Instead, they must use the typically Microsoft (read, boring and literal) tagline “Windows 8 style UI”, notes the report.
If, at the tail end, the issue is found to have been a case of litigation, then this would be yet another case that the company has faced regarding code names, in ten years. During the year 2002, when Microsoft was launching the palladium chip, it was forced to ditch the name owing to litigation issues. Additionally, this will also be perhaps one of many challenges the Software giant is going to face, as it delves into the battle of tablets.
At the time of this writing, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares were trading at $29.88 per share, up $0.69 or 2.36%.
