Last year Microsoft approached Julian Smart to open discussions about the wxWindows name, in relation to the ‘Windows’ UK trademark owned by Microsoft. The wxWindows multiplatform toolkit project had to change its name to wxWidgets after both parties’ agreement on how to resolve the issue.
Microsoft Intervation Pushes wxWindows to Become wxWidgets
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
If Lindows is succesful.
However, I think its a waste of their money to spend on this lawsuit.
What about X-Windows? Either Microsoft can sue them, or the can sue Microsoft
I thought the trademark was ‘Microsoft Windows’…
How can one grant a trademark on windows (note the small w) w/o being on crack? Almost everyone has a couple of them at home…
Does it seem to anyone else that microsoft only goes after name infringments agianst oss software. The exception is X but I think it would be a bad idea because X is older than windows I do belive. I am no Oss zelot I just find it odd that windows would get on wxWindows case but not say windowblinds.
What about X-Windows? Either Microsoft can sue them, or the can sue Microsoft
Nope: that’s “X Window System” (or “X11” or “X”).
Not X-Windows, never.
A few years ago Microsoft requested that companies like Symantec stop namming their products with titles like “Windows Super Defraginator” and change to “Defraginator for Windows” to diferentiate between products made by Microsoft and those from other companies.
ActiveWin, DirectWin too. X is tied to UNIX-land. And using the X symbol is wrong.
Every government employee in the DOJ should be fired from their jobs ASAP. They are corrupt and incompetent.
a) It’s not “X-Windows”, it’s the “X Window System”
b) Maybe it always seems to be OSS projects that get hit by this because they are usually either cloning an existing commercial software product and want to associate themselves with that product ([xgk]Foo! the same as Foo, but [Ff]ree!) or are just not too bright when it comes to the business side of things (and probably didn’t start the project to go into business in the first place).
I have to agree, why do they not go after Stardock? Graphical
X-windows is older than windoze. I think they are scared of the OSS movement and are doing everything in their power to stop us.
Watch out Andersen Windows too…it’s totally unrelated, but Microsoft might want to sue them too.
Honestly, what was the conflict here? One is a widget toolkit and the other is an Operating System. Anyone with knowledge beyond the very basics of computers could tell you the difference.
Are they going to go sue everybody with a .net TLD (top-level domain) now too???
Grrrr grrrr grrrr…anyone else finding that patent and trademark laws are doing more harm than good?
Go ahead Microsoft, SCO, etc. and continue your disgraceful rape of the justice systems of the United States and other countries, and then see if your customers have any respect for you whatsoever.
?? Intervation ??
Intervention.
The new name, wxWidgets makes more sense and sounds better than wxWindows.
I´m going to register ´Doors’, ‘Floors’, ‘Ceils’, …
Unlike patents, Trademarks have to be vigorously defended or they can be lost.
Windows and wxWindows are both software. I think that more than “related” enough.
Unlike patents, Trademarks have to be vigorously defended or they can be lost.
Windows and wxWindows are both software. I think that more than “related” enough.
The point is though that first of all, Microsoft should never have been granted the Windows trademark in the first name, and secondly, the intent of a trademark is to distinguish competing software products, and wxWindows is hardly a competitor for Microsoft Windows. Perhaps if it was called wxMFC, then this would be a trademark violation as intended by the law. Microsoft is hardly going to lose their Windows trademark over wxWindows.
in the first name
errr I mean, “in the first place“
These guys can’t be serious can they? don’t they have anything better to do? like killing off some third party developers or something?
They should have known better than to use Windows as the name for their OS/Shell. Windows is a common word all over the world and also a common computing term.
If I had a trademark for Bloatware Text, I wouldn’t be surprised if a Niftysoft Texteditor appeared. I’d blame myself for not coming up with a better name.
This are still minor supposed infringements. Wait till they begin to attack major architecture implementations, like Mono.
Did anyone else read the article on the name change and notice that it was all about changing the name from wxWidgets to wxWidgets?
Sometimes a global search-and-replace can be a bit too thorough!
What is funny is that the website:
http://www.wxwidgets.org/
Has had a very simple search and replace function ran over the html files.
Check out these funny quotes:
“News: wxWidgets is changing its name”
“Julian Smart and Robin Dunn will cease using the name wxWidgets by August 2004.”
Seems like they could have easily shown their name stemmed from: Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers. Which definitely preceeds MSWindows.
Geez, it’s hard to choose who to hate more!
I am disgusted to say that I live on earth, that is how sick this makes me. Only children have squabbles like this. This name fighting is totally OUT OF CONTROL! As far as I’m concerned, I’m not going to refer to these products by their new names because I simply don’t agree with the name change. Forget what they are now legally called, I can use whatever name I want and no one can sue me for using it:
thebrowserformallyknownasphoenix.com
theosformallyknownaslindows.com
thetoolkitformallyknownaswxwindows.com
theosstillknownasmandrake.com
Does anyone else realize how stupid this situation is? Who is willing to setup those domain names. I am almost there…perhaps we could start a little fund.
The only change I agree with is Mozilla Firebird -> Mozilla Firefox. In attempts to scramble for a name, someone probably stayed up way too late one night and choose the same name as another OSS project. Both projects had to go to extreme lengths to differentiate one project from the other. I see this move as a friendly “excuse me” because it was clear that Mozilla erred and had no problem correcting its mistake.
I like the name change. I always thought the old one was stupid. It seemes like a good thing for the company, as it offers a little more legitimacy to their product by not looking like a rip-off product.
Remember wxWindows – err sorry wxWidgets enables one to write the same C++ code for a GUI application then compile it to run on Windows Linux or a Mac.
Now MS don’t like cross platform toolkits – they only tolerate Mono to promote .Net.
The Chandler project that might provide some real innovation in in desktop productivity apps and give MS some real competition there is being developed on wxPython.
Unlike patents, Trademarks have to be vigorously defended or they can be lost
Apple learned that lesson from MS lawers
M$ doesn’t like competition and all multiplatform languages and libraries are seen as a threat.
They are trying to kill Java with its .Not (.Net), WxWindows an maybe Qt in future. OpenOffice is also a threat because it runs on multiple platforms.
If people use multiplatform libraries and languages Windows will become unnecessary and M$ empire will fall.
Maybe in the future the generic word “Windows” won’t be in english dictionaries. People will have to use Windash ow Win— on your houses… 🙂
wxWidgets is a good name, probably better than wxWindows because it can do more than GUI.
I’m just glad they didn’t name it wxWinfox 🙂
They should have known better than to use Windows as the name for their OS/Shell. Windows is a common word all over the world and also a common computing term.
Heh. rain, I’d think that you’d know better. MS does this on purpose, of course. They benefit from the name confusion — it makes non-clued-in people think lots of various tech are MS tech. Notepad, XP, Explorer, etc. They *love* the generic, easily-confused names.