Just Call It Windows 7
Here at RCPU, we always thought that Vista sounded more like a code name than a real Windows product name. It didn't have a "vintage" sound to it, like Windows 98 or 2000; it didn't sound all tech-y like XP or NT, and it didn't have a cute little moniker like Bob or ME (although it might go down in history with those last two after all).
No, Vista sounded a bit like a code name that somebody accidentally released to the outside world, as if the name slipped into a PowerPoint marketing presentation or something, and it was too late to go back after that and rename Vista "Windows 2007" or some such.
So now we have Vista's successor, currently being rushed in like one of those dancing clowns that crashes the stage when an act is getting booed mercilessly on Showtime at the Apollo. And Son of Vista won't have a cute name or a tech-y name, either. In fact, it'll be just what it is: Windows 7.
Well, sort of. As reader Tony points out, Windows 7 might not really be Windows 7 after all:
"I am intrigued by the Windows version numbers. NT version 4 was the last time a MS OS was publicly given a version number. Windows 2000 was often labelled version 5 (within the OS), which would make XP version 6. Why isn't Vista version 7? Did I miss something?"
Maybe it was Microsoft that missed something, Tony -- as in missed big with Vista. Could the Windows 7 moniker be part of a subtle re-education campaign to get users to forget about Vista? Could Vista someday have the same disturbing air as the 7-1/2 floor in the building in Being John Malkovich? (By the way, see how many blogs you can find that mention Showtime at the Apollo and Being John Malkovich in the same entry. We're on an entirely different plane of existence here.) And, most importantly, what does Jerry Seinfeld have to do with all of this? Remember when George wanted to name a kid Seven on Seinfeld? Read between the lines, people!
Regardless of its name, Windows 7 will have some work to do to bring Windows back into users' good graces. Microsoft seems to understand that, at least in part http://rcpmag.com/news/article.aspx?editorialsid=10291, but, as we've said before, Windows 7 is stepping into a brand new world in which Vista is a relative bust and Software-as-a-Service is making the operating system more irrelevant all the time. Windows 7's name should be -- and, apparently, is -- the least of Microsoft's concerns.
What are your expectations for Windows 7? Let us know at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on October 15, 2008