What the… Now the phrase Metro is going away?
Death of Metro?
I’m so tired.
Anyway, here’s the latest on Microsoft and Metro.
For the uninitiated, Metro has been the descriptive name used to characterize the new tiled based layout and design that is in Windows 8.
Well now The Verge is reporting that we may have to find another name to describe Windows 8.
Microsoft is killing off the use of its Metro design name to describe a tiled interface in Windows Phone and Windows 8. … a tipster has provided an internal memo sent to Microsoft employees confirming the move. In it, Microsoft reveals that “discussions with an important European partner” led to the decision to “discontinue the use” of the Metro branding for Windows 8 and other Microsoft products — one that employees must adhere to immediately.
The Windows team is “working on a replacement term” according to the memo, “and plans to land on that by the end of this week.” Until then, employees have been advised to refer to the Metro style user interface as the “Windows 8 style UI.” The memo was distributed to employees earlier this week, so we expect to hear official news about the Metro replacement by the weekend.
There has to be a really juicy story behind this name change and we’ll get to the bottom of it.
At this point, this is a pretty massive shift in branding terminology for the Windows 8 product. All of us who have been covering this product for so long are really used to calling this Metro and using the phrase “Metro style design” to describe the style and aesthetic.
Whatever is behind this change must be really major.
I guess the silver lining is that the public hasn’t really taken notice of Windows 8 yet.
To be continued…
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