What’s in a name?! Why Windows 7?

You may be wondering (as I did for a long time) on why Microsoft chose the name Windows 7 for it’s yet to be released newer version of Windows Operating System. Particularly, why the number 7?

To simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore “Windows 7″ just makes sense.” If we go back to the history and make a note of names of the earlier versions of Windows OS, then it’s a bit more complicated. So, the decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Since, Microsoft doesn’t ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date do not make sense much as well.

Ahh…Wait! Since you have already entered into my blog, how can I let you go without making sure you know precisely on the earlier different OS milestones Microsoft have crossed so far?

So, let me get started. The very first release of Windows was Windows 1.0. The second was Windows 2.0 and the third was Windows 3.0. Quite simple!

The next is where things have gotten a little more complicated. Following Windows 3.0 was Windows NT which was code versioned as Windows 3.1. Then came Windows 95, which was again code versioned as Windows 4.0. Then, Microsoft released Windows 98, 98 SE and Windows Millennium each shipped as 4.0.1998, 4.10.2222, and 4.90.3000 respectively. So, Microsoft swept all 9x versions as 4.0.

Windows 2000 code was 5.0 and then the Windows XP was 5.1, Although Windows XP was a major release, Microsoft didn’t want to change its code version number in order to bring greater flexibility in the maximize application compatibility.

This brings the Windows platform to Windows Vista, which is 6.0. So, this is how we can see Windows 7 as Microsoft’s next logical significant release and 7^th in the family of Windows releases.”