A test version of Microsoft’s latest Windows software will be launched in the next week into a controversy which is likely to set a myriad of legal precedents over property rights. And it will all be based around the Shakespearian question: what's in a name?

"There is no more Longhorn; it is now officially Windows Vista," Kevin Johnson, the group vice president of Microsoft's worldwide sales, marketing and services, said, as the beta launch date of August 3 was confirmed today.

But for a product that is being marketed as "bringing clarity to your world", with "clear ways to organise and use information the way you want to use it", there is anything but clear vistas ahead as far as what the system is called.

Vista has been registed as the name of one company in the United States for six years - operating as a small business internet interchange based in Microsoft's home town of Redmond.

"We are going to consider our options and talk to Microsoft," John Wall, the owner, told The Seattle Times. Vista has not yet taken any legal against the software giant.

But the effect on the company is already being felt. "It's starting to disrupt our business," Mr Wall said. "We do nothing with Windows."

Others suggest that Microsft's choice of name for its latest product has been particularly careless, inviting legal challenges from a sewing machine manufacturer, a monitoring system for lifts and a special brand of detergent for dairy equipment - all of which carry the name Vista. Many existing computer products also use the Vista trademark.

Trademark law in America and around the world - and Microsoft maintains that proper checking was done on the choice of Vista in all its operating territories - normally allows the same or similar names to be used provided it does not create confusion with existing products.

There are no operating systems trademarks registered as Vista in the US. However, there are 180 other software or computer products using Vista as a name, according to the Washington Post. Microsoft is likely to maintain that by calling its product "Microsoft Vista"there can be no confusion.

"It seems like they were a little lax in their intellectual property due diligence," James Berger, a marketing consultant who lectures at Chicago's Northwestern University, told the Post.

The progress of Windows Vista has been closely scrutinised by industry insiders and computer users. How it performs will dictate whether Microsoft maintains its dominant position in the software market.

Windows accounts for more than 90 per cent of the desktop market and has posted revenues of more than $40 billion in the last 12 reported months, but its market share has slipped under pressure from open source rivals such as the Linux operating system.

Similarly, Firefox, the open source internet browser, has taken market share from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE).

Security concerns surrounding Microsoft products have led users to download Firefox, which is freely available on the internet.

Bill Gates, pictured above, Microsoft’s founder and chairman, has indicated that Vista, which was developed under the codename "Longhorn", and IE 7, which is expected to be released at the same time, will seek to tackle the problem of viruses and other malicious software.

Microsoft’s leading market position has led hackers and other online criminals to target the company’s products.

According to winbeta.org, the news site, there are around 100,000 beta testers that have already been advised by Microsoft of their inclusion in the programme.

It is expected that the beta testers will get access to the download in waves, to allow access without crushing download servers.

The testing process will take some months. A final version of Vista is due to be released in the second half of 2006.

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