Windows Why windows 7?

Why is the new one going to be called 7? by my calculations it must be version 9:

v1 to v3.11 had numbers
v4 - windows 95
v5 - windows 98
v6 - windows ME (ugh)
v7 - windows XP
v8 - windows Vista
v9 - Windows 7

What gives?

 

google this, it's been discussed to death. esentially, 95-ME were all windows 4, 2000 and XP were 5, vista was 6. and to make things even stupider, the actual version number of windows 7 is 6.1

 

I think it's more down to the build numbers, Vista beta was in the 6xxx range (61xx I think) Windows 7 beta is build 7000.

 

Fools! We all know that it's because of a secret deal between Microsoft and Intel. Windows 7 is the natural choice for the Intel i7 processor!

 

Absolutely! And to make matters worse, this is obviously another factor in ushering in the new world order in which we will all be ruled by the iron-fist of our reptilian overlords. I say get out your tin-foil hats and prepare for the invasion - our days are numbered!

 

windows 1-3 = numbered
Windows "4" (9x) 95, 98, ME
Windows 5 (2000 + xp)
Windows 6 (Vista)
Windows 7 (... 7)

 

All of which completely ignores NT, which was v4 of Windows...

 

AMD must have lost the deal they had with XP then

 

NT was called NT4.0

 

Well, apart from NT 3.1, 3.5 and 3.51, but who's counting...

 

Actually, the 95-98-Me range doesn't even count. it all comes down to NT build versions, and by that 7 is the 7th. The build number is 6.1 just so they can keep driver compatibility (hence you can use Vista drivers with Windows 7 natively).

 

1 = Windows NT 3.1
2 = Windows NT 3.50
3 = Windows NT 3.51
4 = Windows NT 4.0
5 = Windows 2000 (NT 5.0)
6 = Windows XP (NT 5.1)
7 = Windows Vista (NT 6.0)
8 = Windows 7 (NT 6.1)

And I'm not even including the server versions (which until Win2K were identical with the workstation versions). But to be honest, math's never been my thing...

 

You are all wrong... well expect for the part that Windows 7 is NT 6.1

It goes like this:

1- Windows 95
2- Windows 98
3- Windows Me
4- Windows 2000 Professional
5- Windows XP
6- Windows Vista
7- Windows 7

That is exactly how Microsoft sees it.
My guess is that Windows 3.1 is not considered as an actual "Window". Maybe Microsoft ignores it, or that maybe they consider it as nothing more than a DOS UI type of thing, like what KDE is over Linux.

Windows Server and Windows NT3.1 to 4 is not considered as they were not aimed as home desktop OS. Windows 2000 Professional was the first OS from Microsoft that brings Office OS with Home OS... then there was this huge compatibility issue with Windows 98, and instead of adding compatibility system, they decided to just wait... than when the OS image was destroyed like WinMe, they re-release it, improve boot system/time, new start menu, new control panel layout and skin, and a few minor things, at about a year later (enough time to have all the software adapted for Win2000) and called it Windows XP! Oh and they added ""compatibility"" system where unlike Vista's where it actually does something, that one just answered to the question of the program "What OS are you?" with the selection you picked in the drop down box. Yay!

 

That's how they want us to see it, yes.

However, the truth is as azrael said.

DOS based:
Windows 1
Windows 2
Windows 3.x
Windows 95 (4.0)
Windows 98 (4.1)
Windows Me (4.5), pretty stupid when they didn't use 4.2 here

NT based:
Windows NT 3.1, they started the NT line with 3.1 to match the 'normal' Windows version at the time
Windows NT 3.5
Windows NT 3.51
Windows NT 4.0
Windows 2000 (NT 5.0)
Windows XP (NT 5.1)
Windows Server 2003 (NT 5.2), also XP 64-bit is 5.2
Windows Vista (NT 6.0), Server 2008 is also 6.0
Windows 7 (NT 6.1), Server 2008 R2 will also be 6.1