Microsoft Turns Windows 7 from Codename to Name

Microsoft has announced that the next version of its Windows operating system will be named simply Windows 7 - exactly the product codename for the Vista successor. 7 here actually has a very simple explanation as this is the seventh release of Windows for Microsoft - hence the decision.

The next Windows iteration will be shown for the first time to application developers at two conferences to take place in Los Angeles in a few weeks from now - PDC (Windows Professional Developers Conference) and WinHEC (Windows Hardware Engineering Conference).

Since there are no details on exactly what Microsoft will demonstrate in the coming weeks, the blogosphere has been exercising for a while in wittiness about the name only. I think the best example is VentureBeat collecting all the potential titles for the Microsoft announcement post they had in the team - all of them critical of Microsoft but still probably milder than when we see the product itself.

Mary Jo Foley offered an interesting piece of history here by remembering that simplicity quoted as the reason for the name choice this time was also the reason Microsoft referred to for naming Vista - the product codenamed Longhorn initially.

But some people did try to stay positive and see something good in the newly-announced name. For example, Guardian’s Jack Schofield mentioned that the benefit of any numbered release is that you instantly understand there will be further versions - Windows 8 and Windows 9 in this particular case. So this choice of a name could be an indication of a continued innovation. So if you believe in innovation by Microsoft, you should be happy about the name chosen.

But the general opinion is that this is really a shocking revelation as everyone expected something unique and catchy from Microsoft - especially given their latest experiments with creative ads and viral videos.

Honestly, I myself don’t really get all the fuss with the importance of the name. A name is definitely of incredible importance for a new startups, for example - some project that only faces consumers for the first time ever. Unfortunately for Microsoft, consumers are quite familiar with the Microsoft corporation and the Windows brand - so the only thing that could matter is finally releasing something that does not leave the most loyal customers shocked (I am talking about myself here). For Microsoft the key is performance, not the name - so probably this is a very wise choice of a name.