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MapPoint Loses .NET From its Name

In its campaign to strip the overused .NET name from as many products as possible, Microsoft recently renamed MapPoint .NET to the MapPoint Web Service.

MapPoint had been one of the most legitimate recipients of the .NET name, as MapPoint is a service that Microsoft offers for developers to provide location-based information in their applications.

But as Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates has admitted, Microsoft was too aggressive with the .NET name, and the overuse diluted its meaning.

In a formal statement, a Microsoft spokesman said, "This change supports Microsoft's overall effort to clarify the naming and branding strategy around .NET. As support for Web services becomes intrinsic across our entire product line, we are moving toward a consistent naming and branding strategy to better enable partners to affiliate with this strategy and customers to identify .NET-enabled products."

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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