Name that software giant!

Mono and Poly. Misery and Mis-apps. And other suggestions for a divided Microsoft from our e-mailbox.

Published June 15, 2000 7:15PM (EDT)

"Welcome to Ted's Lemonade Stand. Would you like an Internet browser with your suite of applications? Don't forget to stop by Rock Rat Operating Systems to get the latest version of Windows, although our software runs on all OSes, of course."

Tedslemonade.com and rockrat.com are just two of the dozens of weird domain names that Microsoft has registered in recent months. Though Microsoft is fighting Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's decision to split the company in two, might it be preemptively snapping up promising URLs?

"These registrations are a window into Microsoft's corporate soul. You see the hopes, fears, desires and the business directions they're going in," says Alex Frankel, the president of Quiddity, a brand strategy and naming company, who tipped us off to the domain names.

Lemonade is always appealing, but surely, Redmond can do better than Rock Rat. We asked what advice you have for Microsoft if it faces a post-antitrust re-christening. Here are a few of your suggestions:

The Unportable App Company and the Irresistible OS Company
-- Jim Flynn

Reboot (for Windows) and Reinstall (for applications)
-- Alex Martin

Jolly Office Business Systems (JOBS) and Windows Operating Systems (WOS)
-- Greg Kaiser

Mono (in charge of one thing: the Win OS) and Poly (in charge of many things: apps, browsers, games, etc.)
-- Najz Ventura Medina

Bill's Operating System Company (BOSCO) and Steve's Applications Company (SAPCO)
-- Felix Finch

Scyllacon and Charybdisk
-- John E. Hellmuth

Microsoft Operating Systems Redmond Inc. (MSOSRI) and Microsoft Applications (MSAPP), pronounced: Misery and Mis-apps
-- Peter Richard

Thing 1 and Thing 2
-- Andrew Amster

Solulent and Execrent
-- David S. Zink


By Salon Technology Staff



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