...from: http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/07/25/vista/index.php Microsoft could face 'Vista' trademark challenge
By Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
The founder of a Redmond, Wash.-based custom application and services provider is considering taking action to challenge Microsoft Corp. over the naming of the next version of the Windows operating system (OS).
John Wall, chief executive officer of Vista Inc., said his company is “considering all of its options” for a potential case against Microsoft because of the company’s choice of the name “Windows Vista” for the previously code-named Longhorn version of the OS.
Wall said the naming of Windows may violate a trademark his company has and potentially create confusion over the software and services Vista provides. Vista is headquartered just down the road from Microsoft and provides small businesses with online information systems, including custom applications, as well as with consulting services.
“If people call it Windows Vista, thats not a problem,” he said. “If people call it ‘Vista,’ that confuses it with our business and what we do.”
Wall said Vista will be analyzing traffic to its Web site, http:// www.vista.com, to see what effect the “Windows Vista” name may have on visitors to the site. If the effect is significant — that is, if a surge of visitors come to Vista.com looking for information about Windows Vista — the company may decide to take legal actions over the trademark.
One of the key tests for whether a new trademark can be challenged or not is if it creates confusion over another company’s products and services, said Bill Lozito, president of Strategic Name Development, a brand naming consultancy in Minneapolis.
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...from:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/08/02/nonprofit/index.phpa
Nonprofits slam Microsoft's Vista name
By Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
Microsoft Corp. Monday again came under fire for its choice of the name “Windows Vista” for the next version of its client operating system, this time from two groups that help health-care organizations implement U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) software.
The VistA Software Alliance and WorldVista, two nonprofit groups that assist American veterans hospitals, nursing homes and clinics with the VA’s VistA software, have denounced Microsoft’s name choice, citing possible confusion between the operating system and the software used to store and manage veterans’ patient information.
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VistA has been in use for about 20 years and provides electronic records for millions of veterans in 163 hospitals, 135 nursing homes and 850 clinics, according to the groups.
The timing of the naming is especially inconvenient because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is readying the release of VistA-Office EHR (electronic health record) within a few days, according to the groups. This is a version of VistA specifically tailored for medical practices and will be offered for free or low- cost to physicians nationwide.
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...from:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/09/13/vistaoffice/index.php
Microsoft previews Vista, next Office
By Yardena Arar, PC World.com
Previews of new Windows Vista graphics and a dramatic interface overhaul for Microsoft Office are on the agenda for Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates’ keynote Tuesday morning at a developer conference in Los Angeles.
Vista highlights include new ways to manage open windows, and enhancements to the interface for file directories and more. The first public peek at Office 12, meanwhile, may generate even more excitement since it is so different in appearance from previous versions.
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Microsoft has also implemented another previously promised bit of eye candy: File folders that contain documents now appear as slightly open manila folders with stacked thumbnail images of the documents they contain.
Gates is expected to share several more new features, including new ways to view and manage currently open windows. You’ll be able to flip through them or view them in 3-D Rolodex-style. The sidebar shown in very early pre-beta releases, but not included in Beta 1, is making a comeback. This is a strip running along the right-hand side of the screen that will display “widgets” or “gadgets” that are typically applets with information that users might like to have handy, but which must be constantly and automatically updated, such as stock tickers or a clock.
Browser, Office enhanced
Internet Explorer 7 is expected to get some new tricks as well, including a “quick tabs” feature that lets you quickly open several links on a page as tabs, and a zoom feature for up-close viewing.
Also on the conference agenda is a discussion of likely Windows Vista editions, which according to a published report on Paul Thurrott’s WinSupersite will break down into two main families — Home and Business — each including several variations. Microsoft officials say these are not set in stone, however