The worst part is that it isn’t a joke…

Let me start this off by saying that (from a consumer perspective) I think Microsoft is a great brand. Aside from the fact that I spent most of Christmas day trying to get my aunt’s Dell to work with Windows Vista, I really have no qualms with the company.

Plus they make Xbox, and as we all know, Xbox is pretty awesome.

But the only thing that consistently irks me about the software giant (see what I did there?) is that when it comes to naming their products, they fail.

Some would even say, epically.

(Note: I’m deading that series. It’s 2009 and time for um, change.)

Take the upcoming software battle that’s going to Microsoft’s Windows 7 vs. Apple’s Snow Leopard for example.

I’ve haven’t been privy to check out either of these platforms, but based solely on their names alone, I’m going to have so say that Apple’s Snow Leopard is going to kick Microsoft 7′s virtual ass, simply for the fact that it has a much cooler name. In fact, Apple’s big cat stance has been sonning Microsoft’s numerical offerings since they released OSX Cheetah in 2001.

You know what Microsoft released in 2001?

Windows XP.

To date, Apple’s OSX platform has released iterations dubbed “Puma,”  ”Panther,” and “Tiger.”

(Maybe Cougar will drop when Apple’s old and withered but still looking for nubile young creatives.)

Microsoft on the other hand, has dropped programs with imposing names like  ”Windows XP Professional x64 Edition” and “Windows Home Server.”

Which means that if Apple ever wanted to ether Microsoft’s chances of winning the operating system name game, they could just drop the biggest cat of all, OSX Lion, to which Microsoft could counter with the ever imposing, Windows 8.

Rather than releasing tee shirts with Common and mud colored versions of the Zune, Microsoft should dedicate their resources to stepping up their product name game.