"Please, for the framework's sake and for our sake, reverse this decision. It may be good now, but some years down the road it will be regretted," the petition concludes.

Seeking to clarify the naming convention for its developer framework, the company renamed (http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/06/09/79163_HNmsrebrand_1.html) its WinFX technologies Net Framework 3.0 this spring. Net Framework 3.0 is slated for inclusion in the upcoming Windows Vista platform. Net Framework 3.0 features the Windows Communication Foundation Web services platform, the Windows Presentation Foundation presentation layer, Windows Workflow, and Windows CardSpace for identity management.

Microsoft released a statement on Wednesday responding to the petition that emphasized that the re-branding was based on what customers wanted.

"The impetus for the re-branding was based on feedback we heard from customers. The .Net Framework is a strategic brand that has come to symbolize both managed code development and overall platform thought leadership. Microsoft has poured an incredible amount of energy into the brand over the past five years. With over 90 percent professional developer awareness and over 50 percent professional developer adoption, we must continue building on the incredible equity we've built in this brand. This decision will enable us to do that," the company said.

"Additionally, this decision will simplify our message to developers. While the WinFX brand has helped us introduce the incredible innovations within Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow, and Windows CardSpace, the brand also creates an unnatural discontinuity between previous versions of our framework and the current version.