Is there a particular reason why Microsoft is so terrible at naming things? What’s wrong with “Remote Desktop”?
Infiltred North Korean psyop to push people to Red Star OS. 2025 will be the year of Linux on the desktop thanks to the Great Leader.
Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
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Re: Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
#32Even though I'm well aware of HN's guideline against shallow dismissals, I still can't help but say it: Worst. Naming choice. Ever. Searching for documentation or assistance relating to "Windows App" will be effectively impossible.
Sometimes I think that when a Product Manager is feeling unimportant, they rename the product so that every. damn. department. from marketing, to sales, to all the peer products have to take notice. "Fear my importance! I'm changing the name of this product!"
> "Fear my importance! I'm changing the name of this product!"
Well, the person who wrote the tech blogpost that was linked here is :
>Hilary Braun
>I'm a Senior Product Manager for Windows 365, focused on providing a great experience for people using Windows in the cloud with the Windows App.
So, Bingo! It's indeed most likely a case of needing to feel important. After all, you're the manager of something absolutely nobody cares about, as long as it works as intended. The RDP features of Windows are the kind of thing you only notice if they do not work properly, if they work fine, they're just another tool in the box, no more exciting to look at or talk about than hammers and screwdrivers. I would even suggest watching paint dry is more entertaining than having to listen to a manager talk about their brand rebranding of the computer equivalent of a screwdriver.
Re: Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
#33Even though I'm well aware of HN's guideline against shallow dismissals, I still can't help but say it: Worst. Naming choice. Ever. Searching for documentation or assistance relating to "Windows App" will be effectively impossible.
That’s not even close. Microsoft churns out incredibly awful names. The “Defender” family is probably the most egregious example today. I’m sure the enterprise version will be Azure Windows 365 App for Business E3. But it won’t be compatible with one of the 4 hosted windows desktop solutions that Microsoft ships lol, but nobody will be sure of which one!
Windows Defender I'm willing to overlook; it defends Windows which is at least slightly explanatory. Windows App gives no hint about its purpose at all. If I wanted to connect to another Windows machine and saw a Windows App entry in the start menu, I probably wouldn't think to try it.
Re: Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
#34Have you used the Windows App? Which Windows App? Google it! Oh, you mean the Windows App Store? No, the new Remote Desktop Windows App. You mean there's a new version of Remote Desktop? Yes, and it's called Windows App. Right, it's always been a Windows app. No! It's THE Windows App now. Get it? No, I don't get it.
"do you use Outlook the application or outlook.com?"
Do you have a Live account? Or Office 365? Do you open a web browser to sign in?
I have had to ask non-technical people this and they're confused beyond belief.
Re: Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
#35Look, I’m all for getting away from naming things Microsoft Enterprise Work Application for Students and Home Deluxe… but I think they may have gone a bit too far in the wrong direction.
Re: Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
#36Does anyone know the model of internal communications which allows such "interesting" decisions to arise in large corporations over time?
These decisions are usually not based on technical considerations or based on daily/quarterly/yearly goals. They are usually very broad, long horizon, multi year "themes" that are handed down to top level directors who are asked to interpret-implement them. The issue is many of these themes are dropped before they are fully implemented.
When Ballmer was in charge, his theme was that Microsoft should be "devices and services" company. My guess is that Microsoft now wants to be "services" company. In that light, "Remote Desktop" does not quite fit because in the future everything is an App which is a SAAS that we will pay a subscription to.
Re: Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
#37Microsoft Remote Desktop is a list of machines to connect to. It doesn't need to be more than that. It's a tool, it has to be functional first. People often have approximately 50 entries in there. They never asked anyone for feedback. Why are there big squares instead of a list in that screenshot? Why is there a button "All devices"? I want "All devices" right now, from the moment I open the thing. I certainly hope i…
Microsoft Remote Desktop for the Mac is a grid of thumbnails already. There is a list view but it isn't the default.
Re: Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
#38Uncharitable take warning. My bet is on a PM thinking: "Surely if the project has Windows in its name we can't get laid off". Also: https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts
It used to be called "terminal services."
By your reasoning, it's possibly "career down" for a PM to name their project "terminal."
Re: Microsoft Remote Desktop will be renamed to Windows App
#39Have you used the Windows App? Which Windows App? Google it! Oh, you mean the Windows App Store? No, the new Remote Desktop Windows App. You mean there's a new version of Remote Desktop? Yes, and it's called Windows App. Right, it's always been a Windows app. No! It's THE Windows App now. Get it? No, I don't get it.
"do you use Outlook the application or outlook.com?" Do you have a Live account? Or Office 365? Do you open a web browser to sign in? I have had to ask non-technical people this and they're confused beyond belief.
Do you use Outlook or Outlook (new) which is just a webview to Outlook.com?