[R] column names in matrix vs. data frame in R 1.8

[White.Denis@epamail.epa.gov]

Is the difference in behavior below, introduced in 1.8, inconsistent or,
at least, undesirable?  I couldn't find this in the NEWS.

On the one hand,

> a <- matrix (1:4, nrow=2)
> a <- data.frame (a)
> names (a) <- c("break","next")
> names (a)
[1] "break" "next"

On the other,

> a <- matrix (1:4, nrow=2)
> dimnames(a) <- list (1:2, c("break","next"))
> a <- data.frame (a)
> names(a)
[1] "break." "next."

thanks,
Denis