Filed under: OS Updates, Microsoft
"Windows 7" graduates from codename to real name

While other software makers have named their operating systems after the version number (Mac OS 9, or OS X), or the release date (Ubuntu 8.10 will come out in October, 2008), Microsoft has taken an all of the above approach. Think Windows 3.11 or Windows 2000. And Windows XP ad Vista weren't really named after anything.
So what's the deal with Windows 7? This will be the seventh major Windows
Microsoft will be making a developer preview of Windows 7 available to attendees of the upcoming PDC and WinHEC conferences.
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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Learn_You_Facts said 9:28PM on 10-13-2008
The number 7 comes from the NT number, not the "major release" number. NT started at 3 and since XP was 5.1, that would make this the /6th/ major NT release. And since there were 6 major non NT releases(Windows 1-3, 95, 98, ME) this would be the 12th major Windows release.
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aanidaani said 9:28PM on 10-13-2008
So I guess they really are abandoning Vista. How sad for them -- all that development time... They really need to start reassessing their development and product lifecycles.
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kojo87 said 9:28PM on 10-13-2008
i really would like to see some shots that dont look like a 7th grader with Photoshop edited some screen grabs of Vista.
come on MS. give me some reasons why it would be worth my bandwidth to download a bootleg of Windows 7. i want to know what's different!
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Mark said 9:28PM on 10-13-2008
Jeez, it's not even in beta yet.
kojo87 said 9:34PM on 10-13-2008
http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/windows_7.asp
i found some info
Donovan said 9:30PM on 10-13-2008
Um... October 2010 for Ubuntu 8.10? Since when did they start following the Debian release cycle? :P
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Brad Linder said 9:30PM on 10-13-2008
That is what we in the biz like to call a typo. Fixed. :)
robertazimmerman said 11:49PM on 10-13-2008
What's a "Microsoft"? Never heard of 'em.......
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Endejas said 11:49PM on 10-13-2008
Full page ads? Fuck that.
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Daniel said 8:33AM on 10-14-2008
I think Windows 2010 would be better...
or Windows Mojave :)
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edocronian said 8:33AM on 10-14-2008
I'm not so sure on your take on Mac OS X being a version number. I mean, yeah, it was a few years ago, but now its the branding either by design or by accident.
Think of the current version being OSX, version 5.5
I'll stick my nuts on the workbench by saying that Apple are highly unlikely to increment the X to XI or 11 or whatever. It just doesnt make marketing sense.
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lowell said 7:10AM on 10-15-2008
except that when you go 'About this Mac', it reads Version 10.5.5.
ArcadeSNS said 9:28AM on 10-14-2008
Wasn't Vista64 the 2003 Server 64bit kernel and Vista 32 the XP kernel? Didn't they do the same thing back with the 98 kernel and ME?
Hopefully they've learned, but microsoft is great at bringing out half baked product and then improving it until no one competes, then dumping the project and leaving it for dead.. err I mean complete.
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LordDaMan said 12:12PM on 10-14-2008
No. Vista is NT 6.0. Server 2003 is NT 5.3. I think the 64 bit versions may have kept the same numbering scheme, but it's certainly not the same kernel and far more then just a 64 bit recompile
Plus windows 98 and ME both had somewhat differnt kernals. Win98 gold was 4.1.1998 and ME was 4.90.3000
James said 2:44PM on 10-14-2008
#1 was also wrong -- yes, Vista is NT 6.0. So is Sever 2008. Both are very different structurally from XP -- in fact, the difference between 2000 to XP is much smaller than the difference between XP and Vista. I think "Windows 7" (guh) is really just an excuse to sell Vista Service pack 2 (maybe 3 by the time it comes out...) instead of giving it away. It'll fix a few of the nagging things (that's a UAC joke, get it?) they got wrong in Vista.
For the record, I don't hate Vista -- I run it on all my machines that can handle it well -- but I agree that there's still things to be worked on.
Jash Sayani said 9:47AM on 10-14-2008
Nice to know the naming system... But anyways "Windows Cloud" now known as Windows Strata will still not be Windows 6.9 !!
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Cilff Palette said 12:11PM on 10-14-2008
Windows7 = Vista 2.0
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Adb said 2:40PM on 10-14-2008
The new and improved Vista, with DRM still included -- As before, I will stay away from M$ spyware (orwell-ware fits better)
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supergirlz64 said 8:43PM on 11-16-2008
Hey guys the beta of windows 7 is already out and if you know how to use a torrent site then you can get it. They (microsoft) didn't abandon Vista they only made it better and its called Windows 7. Its works great, has all the functionality of XP but the look and feel of Vista but better, I would say that this time they got it right.
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