Alright, so I’ve been a bad blogger. I haven’t posted in far too long. I did write up a nice long response to John Dvorak’s article about Microsoft’s lack of marketing ability, most of which was agreement. But I never posted it because it wasn’t quite finished. Maybe I’ll get back to it later today.
So… the first thing I want to talk about is this. I’ve been saying that for a while. In fact, I’ve suggested several times that Microsoft really needs to fix their naming schemes – and soon.
So how’s this for an off-the-wall suggestion… Drop the Windows name. Well… sort of. Longhorn can still be a Windows product, of course. But give it a simple, bold new branding. As that article points out, Apple still numbers their OSes (Mac OSX 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, etc.) – but they also call them Jaguar, Panther, and Tiger.
So what are some ideas for a “nickname” to Windows 6.0? I think Windows 6.0 should be its official name. It’s simple and accurate. Windows XP already calls itself Windows 5.1, and Server 2003 calls itself Windows 5.2 – indicating the completed merge of the Windows and Windows NT product lines.
If they want to stick with year numbers, keep it simple. Visual Studio 2005 works nicely. How about Windows 2006? (2005 would’ve been better – historically, Microsoft does better with odd numbers. Oh well, too late for that).
So again I ask… what’s a good nickname for Windows? Here’s a few random ideas:
Call it Windows 6.0, and put up big “W6” logos everywhere. I can see it now, “W6… it’s coming.”
Oh oh… they could pick a theme like Apple did… Instead of cats, how about Halo characters? :P “Microsoft preps Cortana for Fall release.”
Post your ideas here.