What Does the "7" Mean in Windows "7"?

Microsoft ^ | 10/20/2009 | Microsoft

[CJacobs]

Time for some humor on the subject matter. I know my fellow IT Geeks will be good at this one.

What does the "7" mean in Windows "7"?

7: The year it was supposed to be released (2007). 7: The number of hours it will take to upgrade. 7: How much companies will have to multiply their IT staff for support. 7: The average quantity of software you had that won't work in "7". 7: The number of crashes you will expect each day. 7: The months it will take Microsoft to patch half of the security leaks. 7: The number of days in a week that you curse the new operating system.

[CJacobs]

Throw out your ideas.

[rdl6989]

Lucky number because Gates is hoping this one is better than Windows ME or Vista.

[rickomatic]

Windows version 7?

[doc1019]

The months it will take Microsoft to patch half of the security leaks.

If history is any barometer, seven years would be closer. ;-)

[DCPatriot]

“S L O W - D O W N!”

[ArtyFO]

The seventh major version of the software.

[Dr. Sivana]

I am not a big Microsoft fan, but after Vista, I am hoping that 7 is an improvement.

Technically, Windows 2000 is also Windows 4. Windows XP is Windows 5. Vista would be 6. The next iteration would be 7.

I wish they would stick with numbers. I don’t like years because the product sounds dated when it isn’t (Illustrator 88 comes to mind).

A straight numbering scheme is straightfrward. And please, no more than three versions (home, pro and server/enterprise).

[rdl6989]

Windows version 7?

Yes I think so.

[EGPWS]

What does the "7" mean in Windows "7"?

It doesn't mean anything...nobody makes the first jump.

[EGPWS]

What does the "7" mean in Windows "7"?

It doesn't mean anything...nobody makes the first jump.

[bigheadfred]

Named for the movie with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt:

No matter how hard you try to stop it, it destroys your life in the end...

[Dr. Sivana]

Hmm... since Windows 2000 was a successor to Windows NT, which was went up to NT 4.0, maybe 2000 is 5.0 with XP being 5.2. Okay ... they lost me somewhere.

[EGPWS]

Hmm... since Windows 2000 was a successor to Windows NT, which was went up to NT 4.0, maybe 2000 is 5.0 with XP being 5.2. Okay ... they lost me somewhere.

You have never spun the record "Stairway to Heaven" backwards and got an evil message have you. ; )

[TWohlford]

“Hmm... since Windows 2000 was a successor to Windows NT, which was went up to NT 4.0, maybe 2000 is 5.0 with XP being 5.2. Okay ... they lost me somewhere.”

Vista would be 6, and this would be 7.

The rest is a bad attempt at humor.

[cripplecreek]

the meaning of 7 and of all other things

[animal172]

Personally my favorite 7 was on Star Trek.

[tacticalogic]

I am not a big Microsoft fan, but after Vista, I am hoping that 7 is an improvement.

FWIW, I read one review today that said "Apple is going to miss Vista."

[mkleesma]

1 - Windows 3.1 (or 3.11)
2- Windows 95
3 - Windows 98
4 - Windows Me
5- Windows XP
6 - Windows Vista
7 - Windows 7

[BlueStateBlues]

7: What the program will cost in dollars at second-hand stores and Goodwill bins.

[BlueStateBlues]

I’ll try again.

7: What the program will cost in dollars in 7 years at second-hand stores and Goodwill bins.

[BlueStateBlues]

Of course. 7 of 9, how can we forget her.

And you know what, come to think of it, she was the one person who elected Obama a Senator of Illinois, which led him to. . .

She had divorced Jack Ryan, then the current GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, and a controvery sunk his candidacy. His evil deeds? The press made the courts cough up 7 of 9’s divorce papers, and she had “claimed” he wanted her to have public sex with him in a public sex club. He had to step aside as the GOP candidate, no one else took it up, and Alan Keyes finally carried the flag but couldn’t top. . .Barack!!

Damn, 7 of 9 may be personally responsible, in a time warp kind of way, for all of our current troubles. Beam me up already,

[kickonly88]

7th times a charm. maybe ...

[NCC-1701]

Means nothing to me. I’m a Mac man.

[Grizzled Bear]

Seven Deadly Sins
Seven Ways to Win
Seven Holy Paths to Hell and Your Trip Begins
Seven Downward Slopes
Seven Bloodied Hopes
Seven Are Your Burning Fires
Seven Your Desires

[Grizzled Bear]

Of course. 7 of 9, how can we forget her.

She's a Freeper!

[Disambiguator]

You forgot Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000 (Server and Workstation). Win2k was NT 5.0. After that, I’m not sure how the numbering went.

[Ikemeister]

the NT versions and 2000 were business versions. 3.1, 95, 98, ME, XP and VISTA were home consumer oriented.

[Nervous Tick]

It means they’ll require you to install updates 7 out of 7 days of the week.

And after each and every one your computer “might” (heh heh) need to be restarted.

[Disambiguator]

the NT versions and 2000 were business versions. 3.1, 95, 98, ME, XP and VISTA were home consumer oriented.

Kinda sorta. Both XP and Vista have home and business versions. The business versions have more robust networking features, including the ability to be joined to a Windows Domain.

Windows 7 also comes in different flavors.

[Disambiguator]

I forgot to mention that XP and Vista are both built on the NT kernel, whereas 95, 98, and ME were not.

Ok, I’m done now.

[jrg]

Me neither....Running Snow Leopard

[wastedyears]

Yes!

[LibFreeUSA]

the number of seconds before you realize that you’ve made another Windows upgrade mistake.

[lonestar67]

It means Microsoft numbers their operating systems like apple has for years.

[Dr. Sivana]

FWIW, I read one review today that said "Apple is going to miss Vista."

Before the return of Jobs, Apple (barely) survived a series of missteps and missed products. Quickdraw GX, Pink, model specific extension enablers, the 68040, the Performa line, were all problematic (late, unwanted, or just didn't work). I want both companies and Linux providers to make good products.

[SevenofNine]

LOL!

[Paleo Conservative]

Technically, Windows 2000 is also Windows 4. Windows XP is Windows 5. Vista would be 6. The next iteration would be 7.

Windows NT 4 was version 4. Windows 2000 is version 5. Windows XP is version 5.1.

[smokingfrog]

The 7th generation of Windoze?

[EternalVigilance]

Seven is the number of perfection.

Now, considering the subject matter, THAT’S humor!

[The Iceman Cometh]

Windows 7 is going to be a hit. Period.

[Heavyrunner]

A lot of the posts in this thread are made out of sheer ignorance. This is hands down the best OS release from Microsoft...Well, ever.

I dual-booted it in Beta 1 with my XP partition since the beginning of the year, before taking the unprecedented step of deleting my RTM OS to use a *beta* as my primary OS. This system went from January to August (upgrading successfully to the release candidate) without a single blue screen or error that wasn’t user or application-related until I went to the final release version in early August.

While the user interface still isn’t quite as aesthetically pleasing as OSX (in my opinion) and the Start Menu still tends to get disorganized if it isn’t maintained, there is nothing at all wrong with Windows 7, except perhaps the shadow of previous glitchy operating systems inclining the peanut gallery toward smug (if uninformed) predictions of failure.

It’s not an OSX killer, but it’s far better than most of you are giving it credit for, and has put Apple on notice that they’re going to have to start innovating again to keep the lead.

This is a rock solid OS on my machine, and I stress the hell out of it.

[Jonah Johansen]

1=Windows 1 Obscure and not popular
2=Windows 2 Obscure and not to popular,
3=Windows 3.0,3.1,3.11WinforWorkgroups,First Successful version
4 =Windows 95,98,98SE still had Elements of DOS
5=NT,2000, XP
6=Vista
7=Windows 7

[Neidermeyer]

7? ,, Sure I know ... that’s the number of weeks before I can get a cracked .. no activation ,, bulletproof (in regards to WGA) copy shipped in from Hong Kong for $7 ...

[calex59]

Here's the record in a nutshell

Windows versions

1.) Windows 1(I think was never released),

2.)Windows 2

3.) windows 3, then 3.11.

4.) Windows NT came out in 1993(the first version)

5.) Win95 in 1995, there was then several iterations of Win95, ending with Win95C

6.)Windows NT workstation in 1996

7.)Windows 98 in 1998 followed by Win98SE

8.)Windows ME in 2000

9.)Windows 2000 in 2000

10.)Windows XP in 2001

11.)Windows Vista

12.)And now..TA DA: Windows 7

[calex59]

See my post #45, you lumped too many versions together, including 95 and 98, you also left out ME. I count 12 versions of windows including Windows 7.

[VastRWCon]

the number of seconds before you realize that you’ve made another Windows upgrade mistake

I upgraded today from vista home and I dont see any boost in performance, just a few bells and whistles... If I could turn back time.... I probably would have just statyed with vista since I never had any problems with it in the first place.

[polymuser]

.

Does it have a cool new GUI like BOB did?

.

[Dr. Sivana]

Thanks for the listing. I actually remember the older ones better. Windows 1.0 was released, and often came free with Microsoft Mouse (Serial or mouse port versions). Excel and Aldus PageMaker were early Windows Apps. It would run on an 8088 or better. Windows 2.0, 2.1 (also called Windows 286, though it would run on an 8086 or equivalent), and Windows 386 (optimized for the 80386 chip). We can't forget Windows 3.12, or Windows for Workgroups. Windows NT started with 3.1, I believe.

Once you hit 2000, you come up to a myriad of Server and Enterprise and Web whatever versions. It got completely out of hand.

I played with Windows 1.0 in college, and my first purchased version was 2.0, which I upgraded to 2.1 for $40. (A lot of money for a marginal upgrade)

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I wish they would stick with numbers. I don’t like years because the product sounds dated when it isn’t

It does seem that any MS OS with a 'name' has been a dog.

Millenium
Vista