John Gruber today mentions:
Microsoft Announces New Version of ‘Windows Live Hotmail’
Dick Craddock:
Today, we’re excited to give you a preview of the new Windows Live Hotmail, representing the next generation in personal email.
Why “Windows Live Hotmail”? Why not just “Hotmail”? Cf. my earlier piece today about whether Microsoft’s executives are confused about whether they’re in the software business or the Windows business.
I took a look at Microsoft’s site. Here are just a few of the products from Microsoft’s product list, making that Hotmail name seem like shorthand:
- Microsoft® Office Professional Plus Edition 2010
- Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team Explorer Everywhere 2010
- Microsoft® Windows Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop
- Microsoft® Business Productivity Online Deskless Worker Suite
- Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Standard for Small Business
- Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition
- Microsoft® Forefront Client Security Management Console with SQL Server 2005 Technology
That’s how to get people talking about your products. Assuming they can remember the name.