Windows Commander is now Total Commander!

Why this name change? In Summer 2002, we received a letter from attorneys representing the owner of the trademark "Windows". In this letter they expressed concerns that our usage of the name could lead to confusion with their own products. In particular, people could think that our program could be from their company. We were indirectly asked to change the name of our software.

Because "Windows" is registered as a trademark, we didn't want to risk a lawsuit, and decided to change the name. It's important to mention that we have been treated in a very fair way: There have never been any legal threats, and we could negotiate a transitional period until the end of the year. We ask you to consider this, and not to make any negative comments - especially in the forum. Because we are legally responsible for its contents, it could bring us into deep legal troubles. Please also do not contact us because of the new name. As a small company, we couldn't handle the big amount of messages. We will not give more information about the name change anyway.

The original name "Windows Commander" was chosen more by coincidence. There were already many "Commander"-style programs for DOS (e.g. "DOS Command Center", "DOS Controller", and the "Norton Commander"), but hardly any for Windows. The word "Commander" was standing already at this time - 9 years ago - for a whole class of file managers with 2 windows side by side. "Windows Commander" was one of the very first such programs for Windows, therefore the chosen name was quite logical.

The new name "Total Commander" was chosen together with a trademark attorney. "Total Commander" was also registered as a trademark. Thanks to the new name, we now also have new possibilities to offer similar products for other platforms, e.g. for PocketPC or Linux. The name should stand for the fact that the program puts you in total command over your files. It allows you to see what is really saved on the harddisk, and helps you to manipulate all files directly.

We can only speculate why the owner of the name 'Windows' has become active just now (after 9 years). On one hand, they have been put under pressure by the usage of their (slightly changed) name by the Linux community. There have been reproaches that they wouldn't be actively defending their name, and losing their trademark this way. On the other hand, someone else had just registered the domain www.windowscommander.com (which we own ourselves in the meantime). The company may have noticed us because of this registration.