Windows Vista Won, But Microsoft Mulled 'Windows 07'

Microsoft may have unveiled Vista as the official name for its next-generation Windows client operating system, but what about all those names it considered, and discarded?

A quick WHOIS search of domains that Microsoft Corp. registered found such gems as:

-- windowsruby.us

-- windows07.us

-- windowsseven.us

Windows07 (and the spelled-out WindowsSeven) would have been in line with other Windows OS names -- such as Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000 -- that relied on year nomenclature.

Although Microsoft has promised to release Vista before the end of 2006, it may have thought that 2007 was a better marketing choice.

Those domains, like those that include the word "vista" -- windowsvista.us and microsoftvista.com -- were registered at the end of March, well before Microsoft hosted the latest Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle, where it aggressively promoted Longhorn (as Longhorn) and released a build to developers.