RE: [PHP] Microsoft's new naming convention...

LOL, I should have caught that. Check this article out... MSFT 60 13/16 -1 9/16 (2.51%) by Matthew Rothenberg, ZDNet News Is Microsoft's "XP" designation a castle made of sand? Will X mark the spot in this year's platform wars? According to my colleague Mary Jo Foley, Linux and Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac OS X may soon have some X-rated company, thanks to Microsoft Corp.'s assimilationist marketing department. Microsoft may not be ready to get jiggy with open-source programming or other excesses of its smaller OS competitors, but the company is apparently prepared to embrace the platform minorities' fondness for the least-used consonant in the alphabet: According to Foley, the next version of Microsoft Office for Windows will bear the moniker "Office XP" instead of "Office 10," and the Whistler Windows 2000 successor will be dubbed "Windows XP." Is the switch from 10 to X the result of residual DNA from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, whose worship of "Are You Experienced?" author Jimi Hendrix is as legendary as his fecklessness as a venture capitalist? Does it reflect Microsoft's own aspirations to rival the Roman Empire in its scope of influence? Is it a tacit acknowledgement that, whatever its triumphs, Windows will always be "Brand X" to a significant segment of the PC-wielding world? ZDNet News' TalkBack correspondents were quick to pipe up with their own (X) ratings of Redmond's move. Businessmen, they drink my wine Mac partisans were quick to note the coincidence of Microsoft's change of iconography and the arrival of Mac OS X, the next-generation Apple successor to Mac OS 9 that many of us have wilfully mispronounced for more than two years now. "Another Mac OS X rip-off by Microsoft," complained engineer "R.M." Not only is Microsoft trying to rip off the look of Aqua [Mac OS X's GUI] for Whistler; now they are going to start using the Roman numeral X for 10 in product names just like Apple. Wow! How original. Doesn't anybody at MS have a single idea of their own?" "It's pathetic how MS jumps on any bandwagon it can," agreed Robert Downs. "This X-naming thing takes the cake. What's next, iWindowsXP?" Hendrix aficionados were equally piqued by Microsoft's apparent effort to evoke the fallen guitar god. "'Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful,' " quoted Andy Citron, a Raleigh, N.C., computer programmer. "That's a line from the 'Are You Experienced' song. I can see folks having a field day with that." "May I suggest the Hendrix song 'Manic Depression' instead of 'Are You Experienced' for the next Windows launch?" added Glenn Parizot, an engineer who said he hails from the "third stone from the sun." Other readers--uninfluenced by the cultural legacy of Cupertino or Seattle--struck out in new directions when offering bon mots about Microsoft's plan. "Citrix is already using 'XP' as its moniker for its upcoming product formerly known as Metaframe 2.0," Denver systems engineer Armando Skeen pointed out. "Talk about confusion! I can see the questions now: 'Is Office XP specifically designed for Metaframe XP?' " Meanwhile, Randy Pugh, a Houston graphic designer, got down to brass tacks. "I'm confused," he confessed. "Maybe they should just name it Windows WTF or Office WTF." Got some naming suggestions of your own for Microsoft? Add them to TalkBack's cross-town traffic below! -----Original Message----- From: David VanHorn [mailto:dvanhorn@cedar.net] Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2001 11:03 AM To: Superbus22@home.com Subject: RE: [PHP] Microsoft's new naming convention... At 10:54 AM 2/3/01 -0600, you wrote: >Wow, i just read the news that they were planning on XP versions. Maybe >that's just for the Desktop/NT Windows, rather than all 3 as Cement. I guess >we'll find out next week. Thanks for the update... :) It's a joke... CEMENT? Dumb as a brick..? -- Where's dave? http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kc6ete-9