So Metro Germany is a stay-at-home firm that only sues from its armchair if the mob using the Metro name is an international corporation and it'll give them oodles of free publicity?

Hmmm, that's pretty gutless as far as I'm concerned.  Yup, they gotta get off their arses and broaden their law suit horizons... come to Oz, even, and sue some Metro name users here. Personally, I'd like to see Metro Germany sue the local brothel with the same name and put the owners out of business [could be just the business opportunity/opening I've been looking for] permanently.

Thing is, if the truth be known, Microsoft is ditching the Metro name because they made it shitty.... it didn't stink before, but now it does.  So yeah, this law suit thing is just a smokescreen to distract everyone while they come up with a new name... and the excuse will be along the lines that Metro didn't have enough letters in it, or something.

At the end of the day, though, Windows 8 will come out with a butt ugly tile interface and alienate millions of users worldwide.  I will buy it for the low price of $39.95 because, thanks to Stardock and Winstep, I've figured a way to use it just like I do Win7. Maybe a few others will upgrade as well, but the majority will stay away in droves because the low price will not be a great enough lure and new interface will be too great a departure from what they're familiar with.

haven't paid attention.. but did they actually file suit?

or is it more like a quiet word in the background between chums?

It's only generic here because it relates to anything from brothels and tattoo parlours to pubs and boutiques.  Moreover, Aussies aren't greedy about it, either.  It seems anyone here can stick a 'Metro' in their business name if it fits well enough, and nobody's going to sue over it.  Nah, it'd take more than that to get us up in arms... like serving us warm beer and cold meat pies.  Yup, could pretty near start a riot, doing that.

Now that would have been interesting... naming it 'Best Buy'.  Yup, there would've been a few Yanks getting their knickers in a knot over that one... law suits aplenty and potential international incidents.  It was probably wise to have named it metro instead, but that sure as hell ruined all the fun for we onlookers... damned party poopers.

Given what Microsoft has done to Windows in Win 8 [with the interface formerly known as Princ... er, Metro] I dunno it has any chums anymore.  There would be a few former chums, but for the most part, MS' friends are departing in droves, like rats from a sinking ship.

ok here it goes again replys today are a pain in the - lower back... the site is so bugged that ill have to write them 5-6 times

I see it the same my friend, as i said i want my Win also to look nice and as far as i remember Winstep was able to skin the most parts of W8 the only thing that wasn't shown was the Metro Interface.
I could live with it as it is but i would love to see it be able to get skinned ( Metro )  and i think that wont take long-
( i think metro has great potential for skinners if we look at it Metro interface is one window with your apps programs and news feeds on it as well as messenger access or email or whatever 1 window to overview them all...hehe ( now lets compare that to windows7 ) 

If i look at metro and compare the Metro interface with Windows7 for example Metro is basically the allprograms section of your startmenu
we are only able to replace the background with 1 color in skinstudio for that section ( background color )- no pun intended 
Metro however has a background - yeah also 1 color as base but has ripples or circles added in the background... And that is where i start seeing potential   
I think as soon as Metro or however its called now becomes skin-able - we will have a new area on the playground 
Please dont get me wrong im not trying to convert anyone to win8 im just a geek and a little skinner that is very exited about what is to come... call me optimistic  

Yeah, you're right!  I do recall a case of some lonely Aussie farmers who wanted to sue the Kiwis for hogging the limelight over sheep-shagging.  As I remember it, they settled out of court and did a bit of 'wife' swapping to mend the fences.

Now why does it not surprise me that Woolworths was involved!!!!   This is a retail giant that wants its finger to be the only finger in every retail pie, and so far it has spread its wings into alcohol; fuel; pharmaceuticals; prescription glasses; electricals; home improvement; clothing; shoes; toys, etc, etc, etc.  Okay, it hasn't gotten into selling cars; heavy machinery; sex aids or uranium as yet, but give it time.

The problem here is that Woolworths has only one competitor of any note, Coles, and between the two of them they pretty much do as they like to consumers. Both companies stink big-time and both are guilty of profiteering at the expense of those who can least afford it, and government does nothing about it.  I don'y usually get too serious on these forums, but unabated greed does get my dander [ire] up.

Yeah, the company here bought the name and is wholly Australian owned.... sadly. 

It is a very evil company... more evil than Microsoft... more evil than Apple.... almost as evil as Google.

It put market domination and profit above all else, meaning consumers are ripped off and treated like crap.

I worked for Woolworths in management for a while, but as more and more despicable acts came to light, the more I wanted to leave.... things like sending employees around to the smaller competitors nearby to discover their prices and drastically undercut them until they went broke. Once those competitors went out of business, Woolies prices would soar to levels well above what they were before the price wars. 

What broke the camel's back, though, was when the store manager told me to remove the cellophane packaging from meat trays and put the next day's date on them.... something I refused to do because I could have been jailed had I been caught by a state health inspector.  I was subsequently threatened with dismissal for not complying with store policy/disobeying a direct order, so I told him where to shove his job and promptly walked out.  So yeah, I know how evil Woolworths is firsthand... I saw the slimy practices they use to maximise profit and was/am totally disgusted.

I did, but the store manager denied it and accused me of "muck raking" because he supposedly fired me.  Nothing was done about that particular incident because of a lack of proof, but as the health inspector told me, it wasn't the first time that the authorities had be advised of the practice and that my complaint had prompted them to be more vigilant with regard to supermarket meat products.

No, they haven't ventured here as yet, but with Woolworths and Coles strong footholds on the market, I doubt they'd think it worth it to try setting up here.

Aldi, the German supermarket chain set up here a few years back, and though they have a number of successful stores nationwide, they've barely made a dent on the Woolworths and Coles Duopoly.  mrs s and I shop at Aldi these days because I/we dislike the duopoly so much, and in the process we actually save ourselves quite a bit on groceries.

Read this:  http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-dont-call-it-metro-call-it-windows-8-7000002392/

Then read this: http://www.zdnet.com/not-all-apps-that-run-on-windows-8-are-windows-8-apps-got-it-7000002428/

Once you've digested that, watch this: