Rumors: Microsoft replaces ‘Metro’ with ‘Windows 8′ and ‘Modern’ labels
Microsoft will use "Windows 8" or "Modern" as replacements for the now-discarded "Metro" label to describe apps and their environment in the upcoming operating system, according to reports yesterday and today.
Veteran Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley, citing unnamed sources, reported one possible substitute Thursday in her "All Things Microsoft" blog.
According to Foley, the phrase "Metro style application" will be replaced by "Windows 8 application." Other Metro references will also take on the new term, with "Metro user interface" morphing to "Windows 8 user interface" and "Metro design" changing to "Windows 8 design."
Last week, The Verge reported that Microsoft was stepping back from Metro as the label it's used for more than a year to describe the new tile-based environment and associated apps in both Windows 8 and Windows RT. Read more...
Microsoft confirms dumping ‘Metro’ brand from Windows 8
Microsoft will walk away from the "Metro" tag it's been using for over a year to describe the new environment and apps in both Windows 8 and Windows RT, the company confirmed Friday.
"We have used Metro style as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines," a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. "As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog we will use our commercial names."
Late Thursday, The Verge reported it had seen an Microsoft internal memo that explained to employees the change was a result of "discussions with an important European partner" that forced Microsoft to "discontinue the use" of the Metro brand.
A replacement for Metro will be introduced this week, the memo continued, which hints at a renaming by today or Saturday. Until then, Microsoft employees are to use the phrase "Windows 8 style UI." Read more...
Windows Metro Maoist cadres reach desktop, pound it flat
The revolutionary dogma of Metro is sweeping through the old Windows desktop, too, a new leak of Window 8 confirms. The leaked build, newer than the public release of a fortnight ago, abandons the 3D design elements introduced into Windows in 1990 for a resolutely two-dimensional world. The 'legacy' desktop in Windows 8 is denuded of anything that takes advantage of human depth perception, such as window shadows, gradients or sculpted controls. It's a flat, flat world. Read more...
Mozilla to drop Windows 8 Firefox bomb on IE 10
The Mozilla Foundation has started work on a Firefox port that will run in the Windows 8 classic desktop and the tablet-friendly Metro user interfaces.
Moz dev Brian Bondy, who described the project in detail on his blog, said the goal is to deliver a single browser capable of straddling the Microsoft operating system's split personalities, rather than building two separate applications.
Mozilla unveiled its plans for Firefox on Windows 8 in February. An alpha and beta are due in the second half of 2012.
The unified build of Firefox will be a "Metro-style enabled desktop browser", allowing it to compete directly against Internet Explorer 10. This is a third application type; until now the assumption had been there would be just two operating modes for Windows 8 programs: classic desktop or Metro. Read more...