Microsoft Ditches Metro Name

Microsoft Metro

Microsoft Metro is no more; at least as a brand name for the design style found in Windows 8, Windows Phone and other Microsoft products.

That colorful, boxy and built for touch-interfaces style will remain, but, for now, without a specific name.

Here’s Microsoft’s official statement:

“We have used Metro style as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines. As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog we will use our commercial names.”

That “code name” part is a bit disingenuous. Microsoft seemed far more wedded to the “Metro” name when I met with them last spring, Metro was more than code, it was a philosophy for product development. Metro was, they told me, much more than just a design — though they had no problem acknowledging that there was a thing called the “Metro Design”. They even had posters made up that said both “We Are Metro” and listed out the core tenants of the Metro philosophy.

Those tenets are:

Authentically Digital
Do More with Less
Fast and Fluid
Pride in Craftsmanship
Win as One
To be fair, only a small part of that deals with design, per se. Repositioning Metro as a philosophy may have been an indication that Microsoft was ready to move away from Metro as a public-facing design idea.

There were, it appears, other signals that Microsoft’s love affair with all things “Metro” had run its course. During the unveiling of the Windows 8 preview in Barcelona, Spain, Windows lead Steven Sinofsky and company rarely mentioned Metro, though someone did, at one point, refer to the standard Windows 8 desktop as a “full-screen Metro app.”

Then came the Office 15 or (Office 2013) launch last month. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer never used the word “Metro,” even when it seemed clear that he should. In describing the portions of Office 2013 that would look the most like Windows 8 Metro-style apps (One Note and Lync), Ballmer introduced a new phrase, “Windows 8 Design Style.”

I wrote it down because it struck me as odd. Had Microsoft quietly renamed Metro design style without telling anyone? Yes it had.

Microsoft does not officially have a new name for what was once Metro, though “Windows Design Style” is the leading candidate. What we do know, however, is that when it comes to names, there are no longer any sacred cows at Microsoft.

The Name Game

During that same Office event, Ballmer changed the name of the Office Suite without noting that he had done so. In the run up to the first official preview, the product was known as Office 15. On the launch day, Ballmer never uttered the names “Office 15″ or “Office 2013.” Instead he talked about Office 365 and the “Office Preview.”

And just this week, Microsoft retired one of the oldest names in the tech game: Hotmail. It’s being replaced by Outlook.com. Again, this seemed kind of sudden. I visited Microsoft last spring and met with the Hotmail team. We talked about new features, but not the name. They did, though, hand me a cup with “Microsoft” printed on one side and “Hotmail” on the other. The company was, I thought, pretty wedded to the brand name.

Are brand names a big deal? It depends on the product. Years ago, Microsoft tried to push Hotmail down in favor of the “Windows Live” umbrella brand and then gave up on the effort. Back then the company was willing to admit that the brand affiliation was too strong and was happy to support it.

The death, or at least demotion, of Metro from consumer-facing brand to a corporate philosophy you print on internal, corporate posters, is not going to matter to consumers. On the other hand, it does feel like Microsoft spent a fair bit of capital creating some sort of design recognition revolving around a single name. Now they want us to think that they never really wanted consumers to notice it in the first place.

If Windows Design is the go-forward label, I’m sure most consumers will embrace it. But there will always be a few of us who remember the heady days of Metro Design.