Why Windows 10 isn't named 9 (possibly)

[Azlanx9]

According to an artice from pcworld.com (link=http://www.pcworld.com/article/2690724/why-windows-10-isnt-named-9-windows-95-legacy-code.html) by Ian Paul

Microsoft skipped Windows 9 due to compatability issues in legacy code

 

 

"To save time, some third-party Windows desktop developers used a shorthand to check the version name (not number) of Windows they were installing their app to. Instead of coding apps to check for Windows 95 or Windows 98, developers coded instructions to check for "Windows 9."as Ian Paul said.

 

"That made sense since there were only two versions of Windows that had a nine in their name to that point. It was simply an easier way to figure out which version of Windows the program was dealing with"

 

A java code example (full code link here https://issues.jenkins-ci.org/secure/attachment/18777/PlatformDetailsTask.java also mentioned in the article)

"class PlatformDetailsTask implements Callable<HashSet<String>, Exception> {    /** Performs computation and returns the result, or throws some exception. */    public HashSet<String> call() throws Exception {        final String arch = System.getProperty("os.arch");        String name = System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase();        String version = System.getProperty("os.version");        if (name.equals("solaris") || name.equals("SunOS")) {            name = "solaris";        } else if (name.startsWith("windows")) {            name = "windows";            if (name.startsWith("windows 9")) {                if (version.startsWith("4.0")) {                    version = "95";                } else if (version.startsWith("4.9")) {                    version = "me";                } else {                    assert version.startsWith("4.1");                    version = "98";                }"

(more code https://searchcode.com/?q=if%28version%2Cstartswith%28%22windows+9%22%29)

 

 

"Microsoft may have looked out at the vast catalog of legacy code and decided the easiest way to avoid an annoying rewrite for all those programs was just to skip Windows 9 and head straight for Windows 10.

Accommodating legacy code may sound ridiculous, but it's certainly a plausible explanation and, if true, it's a smart move by Microsoft to not upset its developer base or potentially mess with customers happily using legacy software. "Ian Paul

[Jaybird]

I posted this yesterday from ingur. This thread does better explaining it though.

[AlwaysFSX]

This is so easy to not have it being a problem.

[Bosspro1]

well there that reason but I think that the real reason is xp vista 7 8 .9. 10 one, yes windows one will be next. and yes im not being serious.  B)

[TheMcSame]

Lots of people have said that and it's probably true. Not sure if MS has said anything about it though.