Bill Gates decided to call the Microsoft operating system “Windows” and since then the industry of information technology, computing and operating systems changed forever. But few have wondered how the co-founder of the company came up with this curious name.
According to a report from TNGates took his name from the idea proposed by Rowland Hanson, who at the time was vice president of Neutrogena Corporation, a company that markets body creams.
Despite not being technologically savvy, Hanson convinced Microsoft’s marketing team to name the program after a window-based interface.… and then joined the company.
Hanson, the person in charge of Windows as a brand
Hanson joined Microsoft in 1983 and during his tenure with the company, was responsible for the brand strategy, including the introduction to the market of the company’s most popular product, the graphical interface called Windows. In his research, Hanson found that “Windows” was a suitable option and more accessible for the common user.
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Although engineers and computer specialists preferred names like “Interface Manager” for early versions of the operating system, Hanson managed to impose his proposal and lay the foundations for the subsequent success of Windows.
After his time at Microsoft, Hanson became CEO of HMC Company, a specialty communications firm. His experience developing successful brand strategies at Neutrogena caught the attention of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, who convinced him to join Microsoft and apply those strategies to the emerging software market.
Bill Gates decided to name the Microsoft operating system as Windows thanks to the proposal of Rowland Hanson, a marketing expert with no knowledge of technology, but who saw in that name a suitable and accessible option for users.
