If Windows 7 Is the Seventh Windows, What Were 4, 5 and 6?

The latest news on Microsoft's Windows Vista blog isn't about Windows Vista at all. It's about Windows 7, and the news is that it's officially been named ... Windows 7.

"While I know there have been a few cases at Microsoft when the codename of a product was used for the final release, I am pretty sure that this is a first for Windows. You might wonder about the decision," wrote Mike Nash, corporate vice president, Windows Product Management.

"Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore 'Windows 7' just makes sense," Nash added.

But I'm confused (as are others) about the version count here. Nash does, in his post, mention Windows 98, Windows XP and Windows Vista as representing different approaches to naming previous versions of the OS (since the last version based on an actual version number, Windows 3.11).

So you could guess that Microsoft viewed Windows 98 as version 4, Windows XP as version 5, and Windows Vista as version 6. But that would mean skipping Windows 95, surely one of the most trumpeted OS debuts ever. And what about ME and 2000? Microsoft might wish it had skipped ME, but 2000 was an important release.

Personally, I'm thinking maybe Nash was mentally combining Win95 and Win98 as version 4. But anyway you count, it's tough to figure out how the next release of Windows is the seventh. Maybe Microsoft just hopes 7 will be Windows' lucky number.

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