Microsoft has decided to change the design name "Metro" to something else, possibly due to some copyright issues. A new name is rumoured to be coming out this weekend, and until then aparently it shall be called "Windows 8 style UI".


Quote: The Verge

Source: ZDNet


Hasn't Metro sort of already got its name, and a pretty good name too, so why change it now? I would have thought any possible trademark/copyright issues would have been checked before using the term to describe the product, not now.

Anyone want to guess the new name?

PS. Didn't find any topic on this yet on BA.

Wow, this is kinda awful. What will happen with 8 RTM?

What do you mean?

I vote for "(Microsoft )sUI"

simple User Interface

Windows Immersive UI®

Well, nice guess I must say. I actually think that this will be the name. You are good at guessing things, like the RTM number.

I think that it can also be "Windows Immersive Interface"

Good one! It could be something like that.

They're all into Microsoft branding. Microsoft CloudSync Azure [Desktop/Mobile/Tablet] 2012 Enterprise

Shouldn't they have patented it?

I don't think they patent it if its already someone elses trademark, I just wonder why Microsoft didn't check for issues with the name before they began using it-why wait until a few months before launch to actually make sure its all legal.

Metro has been used since the release of Windows Phone 7, which is since late 2010. AFAIK Microsoft didn't register it as a trademark ever and by now someone else probably did and now MS has to change the name due to legal issues... Another possibility is that someone had Metro trademarked before WP7 and MS just didn't look into it. The trademark owner noticed this now when Windows 8 is the latest hype and that's about it... In both cases they made an amateur mistake, first for not investigating on the name and second for not registering when/if they could...

The word you are looking for is Trademarked.


You can't patent a name - patents are for protecting a method. Most countries don't recognise software patents anyway.

Just to let those of you who didn't know. There is a Newspaper in London called Metro and it even has it's own website www.metro.co.uk. If this is why after speaking to European colleagues Microsoft has dropped the Metro name for its interface I am not surprised. But the again Apple tried to take on a Record company in the UK called Apple which was around before Apple Computers were even designed and won.

Actually Metro newspapers are quite common all over the world.
If you're a commuter, you know what Metro is.
It's good that you recall the Apple fact, anyway I don't think Apple Records was taken on by Apple Inc. (and I don't even think they tried to).
I'm pretty sure there's no tradermark infringement, neither for Apple and Metro.

I'm not surprised either, but for another reason.
I remember Metro being the name for just the graphic style.
Then it was extended to the UI, maybe for the lack of a better name or just because they wanted a temporary one.
So Metro will probably remain in use among Microsoft e developers, as a name for app style and guidelines.

Actually, Metro has been in use since the release of the first Zune. You're right that the first tiled interface was in Windows Phone, though.

It's only been officially branded "Metro" since Windows Phone 7 though. Zune's UI was never officially titled "Metro", even if it did incorporate most elements.

There's nearly a million references to Metro on Microsoft.com, if it was only a codename they sure forgot to tell nearly every single person at Microsoft.

Because it isn't a codename and has been used for quite long until now (RTM), I'm pretty sure people and even MS employees will still use Metro, at least unofficially...

I read in a German newspaper that the real reason is that German retailer Metro was going to sue Microsoft due to trademark infringement. Not sure if that's true, but it sounds likely.

They need to quit trying to think innovatively and think smarter, instead of trying to improve something that is already great.

There are Metro Newspapers everywhere man... And I think trademarks are only for one type of product, eg. you are allowed to have a paper called Metro and a piece of software called Metro, since they are completely different types of products.



A German newspaper claims that a German retailer is suing Microsoft, maybe, but I doubt it.

Well I thought that you can't sue a grocery store for using a name that is registered for a computer company, but I guess trademarks apply globaly... :/

Metro is a big corporation, they dont sell to "consumers" in "Metro" markets but all sort of things if you have a registered business.Their consumer accessible markets are called "Real" and they have two(!) electronics chains called "Saturn" and "Media Markt".The founder of Metro owns a skyscraper at Berlin, Potsdamer Platz.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Categ ... eim-Center

In Canada, Metro is a supermarket. It is also a name for a rapid transit system in some cities, ie the Paris Metro. And it is also a name for multiple newspapers around the globe. It is a very common name.

I don't know why MS chose it in the first place. I think subway trains in a large metropolitan city when I see the word 'metro', not the UI in Windows 8.

I assume they chose it either because much of the UI was inspired by signs from the King County Metro, or because "metro" is short for "metropolitan", implying sophistication and style.