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Veteran's groups protest Windows 'Vista' name

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Microsoft

Microsoft has raised more ire with its chosen name for future Windows, Vista - this time from non-profit groups representing veteran US soldiers.

The VistA Software Alliance and WorldVista, two nonprofit groups that assist American veterans hospitals, nursing homes and clinics with the VA's VistA software, have denounced the choice, warning of possible confusion between the operating system and the software used to store and manage veterans' patient information.

"The confusion created by Microsoft and its choice of the word 'Vista' is an affront to the people who take care of our nation's veterans," Barbara Boykin, chairman of the VistA Software Alliance said.

"The VistA software enables these caring professionals to provide our veterans with some of the best healthcare in the nation. Microsoft is demeaning their passion and dedication to our veterans by expropriating the name Vista."

Looking back at a twenty-year VistA

VistA has been in use for about 20 years and provides electronic records for millions of veterans in 163 hospitals, 135 nursing homes and 850 clinics, according to the groups.

The timing of the naming is especially inconvenient because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is readying the release of VistA-Office EHR (electronic health record) within a few days, according to the groups. This is a version of VistA specifically tailored for medical practices and will be offered for free or low-cost to physicians in the US.

Maury Pepper, chairman of WorldVistA, called the timing of Microsoft's announcement of Windows Vista "unfortunate" and said that it detracts from the nationwide effort to provide VistA to the health-care industry. Many believe the industry, which still handles much of its information in long paper trails, is long overdue for a standard, electronic system to manage patient data.

’We did our research’

A Microsoft spokeswoman claimed the company did a thorough search before picking the name to ensure Windows Vista would not infringe on the trademarks of other companies or products. She also said that since the trademarked name is a combination of two words - "Windows" and "Vista," one of which is clearly associated with Microsoft - the name should not create any confusion between the operating system and other similarly named software.

Still, the nonprofit groups are not the first to cry foul over Microsoft's naming of its next-generation operating system. Just days after Microsoft's July 22 announcement of the new name, the chief executive officer (CEO) of a Redmond, Washington-based consulting and software company that serves the small business market said he was considering a legal challenge to the name.

John Wall, CEO of Vista Inc., said his company was mulling its options for a potential case against Microsoft because the software giant may have violated a trademark his company has.

By Elizabeth Montalbano
MacWorld

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