HomeGroup, Homegroup, homegroup ... explainedHomeGroup, Homegroup, homegroup ... explained

I've heard from Steven Sinofsky and Gloria Boyer about the different spellings of HomeGroup in Windows 7. It's all part of the plan, it seems. :) Here's what I was told: The (trademarked*) feature name is HomeGroup . The generic 'thing" created by the feature is a homegroup . If the word "homegroup" happens to occur in a place where it should be initial-capped, such as a title, it is Homegroup .      (* To preserve a trademark you have to use it consistently) Interesting. Given this, we can look at my previous example in a new light. I guess. So, that's good. I'm not surprised to find out that Microsoft is working very hard on the consistency stuff. There's still a lot of work to do there, of course, much of it necessitated by a decision to remove capitalization all over the OS, compared to Vista, where everything was capitalized. (For example: Menu item and toolbar button names in Vista appeared as "Large Icons" and "Auto Arrange Icons" whereas in 7 they are, respectively, "Large icons" and "Auto arrange icons.") The big OS inconsistencies--like the taskbar/notification area stuff--are, of course, by design, and won't be changing. But this is an ongoing process. Again, let's not misconstrue the criticisms here. Windows 7 is so good we can be picky. That's a good sign.

Paul Thurrott

May 11, 2009

1 Min Read
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I've heard from Steven Sinofsky and Gloria Boyer about the different spellings of HomeGroup in Windows 7. It's all part of the plan, it seems. :) Here's what I was told:

The (trademarked*) feature name is HomeGroup.

The generic 'thing" created by the feature is a homegroup.

If the word "homegroup" happens to occur in a place where it should be initial-capped, such as a title, it is Homegroup.

     (* To preserve a trademark you have to use it consistently)

Interesting. Given this, we can look at my previous example in a new light. I guess.

So, that's good. I'm not surprised to find out that Microsoft is working very hard on the consistency stuff. There's still a lot of work to do there, of course, much of it necessitated by a decision to remove capitalization all over the OS, compared to Vista, where everything was capitalized. (For example: Menu item and toolbar button names in Vista appeared as "Large Icons" and "Auto Arrange Icons" whereas in 7 they are, respectively, "Large icons" and "Auto arrange icons.") The big OS inconsistencies--like the taskbar/notification area stuff--are, of course, by design, and won't be changing. But this is an ongoing process.

Again, let's not misconstrue the criticisms here. Windows 7 is so good we can be picky. That's a good sign.

About the Author

Paul Thurrott

Paul Thurrott is senior technical analyst for Windows IT Pro. He writes the SuperSite for Windows, a weekly editorial for Windows IT Pro UPDATE, and a daily Windows news and information newsletter called WinInfo Daily UPDATE.

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