One significant use of the codec will be in MPEG-2 systems streams.  Applications such as HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and direct-broadcast satellite TV will put the video into MPEG-2 streams, allowing the video codec to be used without other parts of MPEG-4.  Perhaps sometimes an MPEG-4 audio codec will also be in use in the system, but such a system can "mix and match" codecs and other aspects at will.  Similarly, this video codec is used in videoconferencing systems without ordinarily using any other part of MPEG-4.  That is not to say that there's anything bad about using it with other parts of MPEG-4 - just that some applications can work fine without doing that.  I think we won't know for a while whether it will "generally" be used with other parts of MPEG-4 or not.  Getting back to what it is usually called, I checked the two implementers that you seem to favor: Apple and Nero.  Apple seems to primarily call it "H.264" on their web sites, etc.  Nero uses a hybrid name - they appear to mostly call it "AVC/H.264" in their press releases.