Microsoft Drops .Net Moniker From Windows Server

The software giant said Thursday it was scrapping the .Net reference from its upcoming server and instead will go with the more simple Windows Server 2003.

Rather than include the .Net branding in the official naming of its products, Microsoft said it has opted instead to identify any products and services that support Web services and other Internet standards with the .Net Connected logo.

For example, the .Net Connected logo, unveiled last July, will be slapped on the Windows Server 2003 product and any third-party software or service that supports interoperability standards such as XML and SOAP. Sources in the channel have told CRN that Microsoft has struggled for months with the .Net branding and was rethinking its entire .Net marketing strategy as well as the .Net Enterprise Server group currently run by Paul Flessner. The decision to separate the .Net moniker from Microsoft product names follows much internal debate, and the .Net Enterprise Server group is under reorganization, sources said.

One analyst said rethinking .Net marketing is necessary for Microsoft to push its new platform. "It won't fix everything overnight, but it's a good start," said David Smith, vice president at Gartner. "I think it's a long-overdue step in the right direction."

It's not the first time Microsoft has renamed the Windows server, reflecting marketing turmoil over the .Net branding and product delays. In June 2001, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said the new name for the planned Windows 2002 server would be Windows.Net server. The server upgrade was originally code-named Whistler and was expected to ship along with the Windows XP client in late 2001.

Last year, the software company officially changed the server's name to Windows.Net Server 2003 to reflect release delays. A Microsoft spokesman said the company is on track to ship Windows Server 2003 as promised.

One solution provider said that most of his clients are still running NT 4.0 but the renaming makes sense.

"If you ask me, it's a good move by Microsoft," said Jeffrey Sherman, president of Warever Computing, a solution provider in Los Angeles. "The overall opinion was that a .Net server was nothing more than Windows 2000 with some extra add-ons that few needed. If they rename to Windows Server 2003, then it looks like the next logical step."