Microsoft has confirmed that it has decided to drop the “Metro” tag which it was associating with its new environment and applications in both the Windows 8 as well as the Windows RT platform. A spokesperson through an email confirmed that Metro was more of a code word, used mainly during development and will be dropped as the products switch to commercial names. Employees at Microsoft were informed of this decision on Thursday by a memo which stated that the decision had been taken after discussions with a key European partner. A replacment for the name will be announced this week. Until then employees have been advised to use the phrase Windows 8 style UI to describe any related product. Furthermore, reports suggested that several third party developers were also informed of the decision.
Critics went on the offensive stating that this was an unnecessary move and was an embarassment for both the company and its partners. Few critics even began to question Microsoft’s ignorance of basic marketing skills i.e. Applying non trademarked names to products. Given the extensive use of this word for almost all its upcoming products, Microsoft surely seems to have taken a step in the wrong direction with this move. From Windows 8 to Windows RT to the many design philosophies unknown to the common man, every single object was branded under Metro, and dropping the name over a small discussion is non-sensical. Even the upcoming outlook.com mail service and Office 2013 were categorized under this brand.
Despite the decision to drop the name, the company’s website (as of Friday) didn’t have a single mention of the phrase “Windows 8 Style UI”. Ironically, the use of “Metro” and “Metro Style” was still rampant. If the plan was to use Metro as a code name all along, then Microsoft seems to have failed in communicating the same to the users, media and developers. When the first official release of the OS was made, Stephen Sinofsky (head of Windows and Windows live division in Microsoft) used the word a total of 14 times in his speech and there was no mention of it being a code word or a quotation mark to brand it as a place holder. This is primarily why the company is being criticized to such an extent. Shoddy work by Microsoft indeed!
