If Microsoft had invented the iPod, it would have been called the Microsoft I-Pod Pro 2005 Human Ear Professional Edition :D The proof for this is the hit video created by Microsoft themselves. It might have been a joke from the company but surely it evoked my interest in revisiting some unconventional and lamentable names that Microsoft has given to its products - the world's largest software company isn't very good in naming stuff.
1. Microsoft Word - Looking at the history of Microsoft Word, Word for Windows 1.0 was followed by Word 2.0 in 1991 and Word 6.0 in 1993 - why did they skip Word 3.0 and so on and leaped to Word 6.0? The official explanation for this hop was that it brought the Windows edition's version number in line with older DOS incarnation of Word.
Whatever be the rationale, the move rendered the practical purpose of version numbers meaningless and set a bad example for companies like Netscape, which later went from Netscape Navigator v4.0 to v6.0
2. Handheld Devices - At first, they were called Handheld PCs and ran on Windows CE, then they called it Palm PC which enraged 3Com to file a lawsuit for infringing their trademark. Microsoft settled this matter by renaming it to Palm-size PCs. Soon, Microsoft wanted us to call them Pocket PCs which ran on Windows Mobile OS. This name stuck around when the OS migrated from PDAs to phones, although it bifurcated into two editions: Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Windows Mobile Smartphone. Then Microsoft declared that there were three Windows Mobile variants--Windows Mobile Classic, Windows Mobile Professional, and Windows Mobile Standard.. phew!!!!
Eventually, Microsoft felt that they should just scratch off the word "Mobile" and just call them Windows Phones :)
However, they could have named it Arihant as long as it doesn't keep changing :) ;)
3. .NET - In the mid-1990s, critics accused Microsoft was accused by many of being slow to jump on the Internet bandwagon. By the dawn of the new millennium, however, it was firmly on board--and in June 2000, it unveiled a vision for online services it called .NET. As originally articulated, .NET addressed consumers, businesses, and developers, and it involved everything from programming languages to an online version of Microsoft Office to calendaring and communications services to a small-business portal to stuff for PDAs, cell phones, and gaming consoles. It was so wildly ambitious, so all-encompassing, and so buzzword-laden that it pretty much defied comprehension. Which the company seemed to realize--it quickly stopped pushing the concept to consumers, instead restricting it to programming tools.
Some Microsoft names sound clunky; some are confusing; some are undignified or overambitious. More than any other company in technology, this company loves to change product names--often replacing one lackluster label with an equally uninspired one. Microsoft has also been known to mess up some names that are actually perfectly good, such as Windows and Word, by needlessly tampering with them.
P.S. I am reading about Microsoft Bob, Microsoft Office and Messenger products now
1. Microsoft Word - Looking at the history of Microsoft Word, Word for Windows 1.0 was followed by Word 2.0 in 1991 and Word 6.0 in 1993 - why did they skip Word 3.0 and so on and leaped to Word 6.0? The official explanation for this hop was that it brought the Windows edition's version number in line with older DOS incarnation of Word.
Whatever be the rationale, the move rendered the practical purpose of version numbers meaningless and set a bad example for companies like Netscape, which later went from Netscape Navigator v4.0 to v6.0
2. Handheld Devices - At first, they were called Handheld PCs and ran on Windows CE, then they called it Palm PC which enraged 3Com to file a lawsuit for infringing their trademark. Microsoft settled this matter by renaming it to Palm-size PCs. Soon, Microsoft wanted us to call them Pocket PCs which ran on Windows Mobile OS. This name stuck around when the OS migrated from PDAs to phones, although it bifurcated into two editions: Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Windows Mobile Smartphone. Then Microsoft declared that there were three Windows Mobile variants--Windows Mobile Classic, Windows Mobile Professional, and Windows Mobile Standard.. phew!!!!
Eventually, Microsoft felt that they should just scratch off the word "Mobile" and just call them Windows Phones :)
However, they could have named it Arihant as long as it doesn't keep changing :) ;)
3. .NET - In the mid-1990s, critics accused Microsoft was accused by many of being slow to jump on the Internet bandwagon. By the dawn of the new millennium, however, it was firmly on board--and in June 2000, it unveiled a vision for online services it called .NET. As originally articulated, .NET addressed consumers, businesses, and developers, and it involved everything from programming languages to an online version of Microsoft Office to calendaring and communications services to a small-business portal to stuff for PDAs, cell phones, and gaming consoles. It was so wildly ambitious, so all-encompassing, and so buzzword-laden that it pretty much defied comprehension. Which the company seemed to realize--it quickly stopped pushing the concept to consumers, instead restricting it to programming tools.
Some Microsoft names sound clunky; some are confusing; some are undignified or overambitious. More than any other company in technology, this company loves to change product names--often replacing one lackluster label with an equally uninspired one. Microsoft has also been known to mess up some names that are actually perfectly good, such as Windows and Word, by needlessly tampering with them.
P.S. I am reading about Microsoft Bob, Microsoft Office and Messenger products now
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