Windows 8 Could Have Been “Interface Manager 8”

Imagine this, as the next version of Microsoft’s operating system evolves through the Milestone 3 of the development process and onward to the Beta Build, the world could have been waiting with bated breath for any news of “Interface Manager 8” instead of Windows 8.

A tweet yesterday from the Windows team has made me think about what would have been if Bill Gates had opted for the moniker “Interface Manager” for the platform that ended up becoming Windows 1.0.

Almost three decades ago, Microsoft was hard at work on a new project codenamed “Interface Manager,” an operating system with a graphical user interface at the core.

Here are two excerpts from Microsoft’s “A history of Windows - Highlights from the first 25 years” available via this link:

“Microsoft works on the first version of a new operating system. Interface Manager is the code name and is considered as the final name, but Windows prevails because it best describes the boxes or computing “windows” that are fundamental to the new system. Windows is announced in 1983, but it takes a while to develop. Skeptics call it “vaporware.”

“On November 20, 1985, two years after the initial announcement, Microsoft ships Windows 1.0. Now, rather than typing MS‑DOS commands, you just move a mouse to point and click your way through screens, or “windows.” Bill Gates says, ‘It is unique software designed for the serious PC user…’”

This is not to say that Windows 8 is the official brand of Windows vNext, since Microsoft has yet to confirm anything in this regard.

With Windows 7, the codename ended up being adopted as the final brand under which the operating system was released commercially.

Personally, I expect Microsoft to follow the same labeling strategy with Windows 8. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer recently referred to the next iteration of Windows using the Windows 8 moniker, although it might have been just a slip of the tongue.

There are also some who whisper that the software giant might go back to the old tradition of naming its releases, christening the successor of Windows 7 something else than Windows 8.

Microsoft is not exactly known for creating user-friendly brands, and the fact that Windows could have ended up being labeled Interface Manager is an illustrative example of this.

I’m curious to hear from you. Which is the better brand, Windows 8 or Interface Manager 8? And should Microsoft stick with Windows 8 for Windows vNext?