Business Week reports that Microsoft, EU agree on new Windows name. The glorious new moniker?
Officials at the U.S. software giant said they had accepted the European Union’s offer to call the European version of Windows sold without Media Player “Windows XP Home Edition N” — with “N” standing for “not with media player.”
Microsoft officials are said to be unhappy with the name, but have agreed to follow European Union antitrust rulings to end their pain. This however sets a dangerous precedent, opening the door to other potential court-appointed truth-in-advertising names for the company’s flagship operating system, such as “Windows XP Home Edition DOA”, “Windows XP Professional Edition NFG”, “Explorer SOL” and “Longhorn MIA”.
1 response so far ↓
1 Abnu // Mar 29, 2005 at 10:30 pm
“Two months ago Microsoft provided the Commission nine additional names and took the unusual step of offering to adopt any name chosen by the Commission from this list,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s top lawyer in Europe, according to the Business Week article linked above.
Gutierrez said all nine proposed name changes, including Microsoft’s first choice: “Windows XP Reduced Media Edition,” were rejected. EU regulators said that name would discourage sales and mislead customers.
Anybody got the complete list of loser names proposed by Microsoft? I’m guessing one of the proposals was “Windows XP EU Edition” pronounced ewwww!
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