June 06 2015, 07:40

I’ve been pondering the peculiar way Microsoft numbers its versions.

First there came three versions of Windows 1, 2, and 3 (not counting 2.1 and 3.1), and then there was an immediate leap to 95 and 98. Next, they opted for letter names – NT, ME, and XP. That didn’t last long either, and along came Vista.

It seems their creativity ended there, and Microsoft decided to return to using numbers. They figured the next version should be Windows 7, followed by Windows 8, continuing the numbering.

One would think the next version would be 9, but Microsoft decided to call it 10.

I just opened my Windows version window, and on my Windows 7 it shows version 6.1. http://clip2net.com/s/3iShYGb

Yet, the latest Windows 10 is NT version 10. Where version 9 went, only Microsoft knows.

It turns out that in MS there are separate versions, and separate commercial names, which are very similar to the versions.

Windows 95 is NT 4.0,

Windows 98 is NT 4.1

Windows 2000 is NT 5.0

Windows XP is NT 5.1

Windows Vista is NT 6.0

Windows 7 is NT 6.1

Windows 8 is NT 6.2

Windows 8.1 is NT 6.3

Windows 10 is NT 10

The earliest version I extensively worked with was Windows 3.11. Interestingly, version 3.2 only exists in Chinese.