As you may or may not have heard, the next Windows will be literally called Windows 7.
This has confused some people because the total number of Microsoft Windows releases has been way more than 7 – but I digress.
Windows XP is version 5.1.2600.
How do I know this?
…that’s how.
Windows XP was the NT kernel release after Windows 2000 (version 5.0.2195), so if you want to get really technical about it, XP is Windows 5.1.
Windows Vista is NT kernel version 6.0.6001 or just 6.0 for short.
Windows 7 has been reported that it will be using the same kernel as Vista, but will be version 6.1 and not 7.0.
So… Windows 7 has a very distinct chance of having an NT kernel that isn’t representative of the OS retail title.
Maybe Microsoft just likes odd numbers or something.
Windows NT 3.1 did have kernel 3.1. WinNT 3.5 had kernel 3.5, WinNT 3.51 had kernel 3.51 and WinNT 4.0 had kernel 4.0.
All those titles followed what was "under the hood", so to speak.
Windows 7 at present doesn’t.
Um, yeah. A bit odd to say the least.
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Interesting. It ties in with my article on the subject of Windows 7 being called Windows 7 officially that I blogged earlier today.
According to Mike Nash, the corporate VP of Windows management:
“The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity…coming up with an all-new ‘aspirational’ name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve…”
…Which may just be an official way of saying
“We like a change from time to time”?
i would bet with you that microsft will change the name of the next windows… lol
I don’t think MS was using Kernel versions to name this. This will be seventh major desktop release from MS. This is a marketing name not a technical name.
[...] number to 6.1 rather than version 7 as a sign of its intention to ease the task of upgrading. (See this article on PCMech.com.) "If it works on Windows Vista, it’ll work in Windows 7. The move from Vista to Windows [...]