Microsoft will stop using the term Metro to describe its most recent user interface designs, according to reports.
Metro is the name for the type-led design style that Microsoft has adopted across its products since the release of Windows Phone 7 in 2010. Elements of the Xbox user interface and Windows 8 follow the Metro design language, as does the recent launch of email service Outlook.com.
Technology blog The Verge reported that an email to Microsoft employees said that the company planned to "discontinue the use" of the term Metro following "discussions with an important European partner".
It had been suggested that the Metro name was the subject of a trade mark dispute and was therefore being retired but Microsoft denied. The Verge had suggested that Microsoft was in dispute with German firm Metro AG over the use of the name but that has not been confirmed.
"We have used Metro style as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines. As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog we will use our commercial names," a Microsoft spokesman told another technology site, ZDNet.
Microsoft has told developers that they should refer to the "Windows Phone" or "Windows 8" interface, rather than to Metro.
The change comes as Microsoft gears up for the launch of Windows 8 this October. Earlier this week Microsoft confirmed that Windows 8 had been released to manufacturers.
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