this might be old news but it was new to me. Greg http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/28802.html MS dumps .NET tag in latest Windows Server name change=20 By John Lettice <mailto:john.lettice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>=20 Posted: 09/01/2003 at 16:18 GMT In a desperate - but, as it happens, successful - attempt to get The = Register to write about its latest name change to .NET Server, Microsoft = has made it a secret. Until today, anyway. The company has released the = information, together with an explanatory backgrounder, to its partners = under NDA, thus drawing our attention to an otherwise eminently binnable = announcement.=20 It's not called Microsoft(R) Windows(R) .NET Server 2003 any more, since = you ask, it's called Windows Server 2003. This tidily follows up on last = August's name change to Microsoft(R) Windows(R) .NET Server 2003, prior = to which its been called numerous things at various points, including = Windows 2002 server. Not, of course, that Microsoft is confused or = anything - oh no, sir...=20 The official rationale is that Microsoft "is making an effort to clarify = the naming and branding strategy for .NET." At the time of the initial = .NET announcement there was much loose talk from MS execs about 'the = first .NET operating system' (which was sometimes XP, sometimes = Blackcomb or whatever was deemed to be the Next Big Thing at the time), = and this did kind of send the message that .NET was supposed in some way = to be about operating systems. Microsoft now however seems to be moving = it into the 'set of technologies' category to where Cairo was consigned = when it became an UN-OS.=20 "As support for Web services becomes intrinsic across our entire product = line," it says here, "we are moving toward a consistent naming and = branding strategy to better enable partners to affiliate with this = strategy and customers to identify .NET-enabled products."=20 Windows Server 2003 will also have the logo "Microsoft .NET Connected," = as no doubt will practically everything else coming out of the Redmond = stable, and certification under this programme will also apply to = partner products. This logo will indicate "its ability to easily and = consistently connect disparate information, systems, and devices to meet = customers' people and business needs (regardless of underlying platform = or programming language)." That last bit may have some significance - is = it perhaps more important that Windows has fallen off .NET than that = .NET has fallen off Windows?=20 The Q&A attached to the announcement is far too tedious and = uninformative to bother you with, but you'll be pleased to know that the = name change won't cause slippage:=20 "A) No -- we remain on track for a worldwide launch of Windows Server = 2003 in April 2003."=20 So they haven't printed the boxes and manuals yet. =AE=20 ================================== To Unsubscribe, set digest or vacation mode or view archives use the below link. http://thethin.net/win2000list.cfm