WebProNews

A familiar part of Windows that spread to other parts of the computing world gets a well-earned rest.

When Microsoft eventually rolls out its long promised 64-bit operating system, codenamed Longhorn, the now-aged My prefix will be absent from the various components and folders previously called things like My Computer and My Documents, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Those places on the new operating system will simply be known by terms like Computer, Documents, and Music. The company assumes users will know these items belong to them (pursuant to appropriate end-user license agreements, but let's not start that here.)

The My prefix may have been intended to help new users more easily recognize items in their computing environment. But with so many people using computers today, the term seems unnecessary.

But My will live on beyond Microsoft, beyond Bill Gates's influence and wealth. The search engine and portal site Yahoo features My Yahoo, while Google recently debuted My Search History. There's My eBay for auctioneers, and MyFlorida.com for state residents there.

My goodness, no wonder Microsoft wants to put this in the past. In Longhorn, the concept of folders as places containing data will get a tweak. Users will be able to create virtual folders, as they use search technology to collect items from a system and keep them continually organized.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.