I'm a little surprised that Microsoft is getting blindsided by the "Metro" naming conflict so close to the official launch of Windows 8. Microsoft is generally obsessive about avoiding name conflicts. There is a reason that all of its fictitious companies and networks are named "Contoso"--Microsoft has done its homework to find names it can safely use without running into these sort of legal quagmires.

A Wired by Alexandra Chang suggests that Microsoft drop the separate name altogether. She feels that it's enough to just call it Windows 8, and that the "Metro" name just adds confusion. She points out, "How often do you hear people talking about their 'Aero desktop experience'?"

I agree completely that nobody really cares, or refers to the fact that they're using "Aero". They just call it Windows 7. The difference, though, is that Aero is Windows 7, and in the Windows 7 operating system it's the only game in town. Well, you can disable Aero, but that doesn't fundamentally change how Windows 7 works. That's the difference between Metro and Aero.

Your Windows 7 software will run in Windows 8, but it won't run in the Metro--I mean Windows 8 Style UI. Traditional desktop Windows software falls back to a Windows 7-esque Desktop mode. The Windows 8 Style UI is more mobile-oriented, and runs apps as opposed to applications (the difference being semantic in my opinion, but you get the idea).

The beta of runs in the desktop mode and has the general look and feel users are accustomed to from Office 2010. However, Microsoft has also developed an app version of OneNote that works in the Windows 8 Style UI. has a different look and feel, and takes advantage of the mobile, touchscreen elements of Windows 8 better than the desktop version.