I found something very interesting about the windows 7 installation file. If you look at the actual file name, Windows 7 is actually Windows 6.0. So, does that mean that Microsoft just went in and tweaked Vista a lot and are trying to re-release it in a new package?Don't get me wrong, I am using Windows 7 right now, and I love it. That just caught my eye.Another thing that is kinda stupid. I am sure people noticed, but I thought it was clever how on the public Beta, the native screen save was of a BETTA fish. I thought that was clever.

It will be marketed as Windows 7. But internally it will be Windows 6.1. The workstation versions of the 32-bit NT family go like this: NT 3.1 NT 3.5 NT 3.51 NT 4 Windows 2000 (NT 5) Windows XP (NT 5.1) Windows Vista (NT 6.0) Windows 7 (NT 6.1) Actually, I've just noticed it's all on Wikipedia, which gives a lot more detail than I have: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_nt

Windows 7is actually versioned as 6.1 just like Windows Server 2008 R2, both W7 and 2008 R2 build on the shared 6.0 code base, but they are definitely new OS versions.

I get version 6.1.7000.0 on system files such as ntoskrnl.exe.Why Windows 7? I don't know. Must be a marketing thing.

Ok, gotcha. Thanks. I honestly didn't care one way or the other, I just was interested. Oh, and wikipedia f-ing rocks.

The way I think it:Windows 1, 2, and 3.XX were numbered accordingly.Windows 4 is the 9X family, 95, 98, and the Legendary MEWindows 5 is XP, which I tended to avoid like the plague.Windows 6 is Vista.And with this next-gen version of Windows, we're back to the original numbering, which will be at 7.

Do you remember the time when Windows Vista released? Many customers bought it, rushed into their house and install it on their PCs. Suddenly, they found there was almost no Softwares and Hardwares that can go with Windows Vista. It was totally a mess. And because of that, Microsoft metone of the greatest failure in its history.So, at this time, in order to make most of the softwares and hardwares go, Microsoft changed the version of ntoskrnl.exe into 6.1 instead of 7. (The version of Windows Vista's ntoskrnl.exe is 6.0). That's one of the reasons why though Microsoft did do some changes, some people still regarded Windows 7 as the service pack of WindowsVista instead of a new Windows.And if you are familiar with Windows history, You will find that chart:Windows 1.0 : Version 1.0Windows 2.0 : Version 2.0Windows 3.x : Version 3.x>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Since then, Microsoft changed the style of naming, they gave each Windows a word.Windows 9x Series : Version 4.xWindows NT : Version NT 3.1-4.0 ("Windows New Technology" ,or "Windows Not Completed", if you like)Windows 2000 : Version NT 5.0Windows XP : Version NT 5.1Windows Vista : Version NT 6.0Windows 7 : Version NT 6.1So, if you are sure that Windows XP is a new OS, then Windows 7 also has the qualification to be a new OS.And do you notice that the naming style returns? Microsoft thoughtnumbers can be more acceptable than words.By the way, another interesting thing is that the Microsoft OS with X.1 as their versions always succeed.For example, Windows 3.1(Do you know that the OS was still available for Embedded OS's users one year ago), Windows 4.1 (Windows 98,especially in China), Windows 5.1(Windows XP,an OS lived for more than 8 years)and Windows 7(I'm not that sure)P.S. I love the idea for the betta fish, too.It has the same pronunciation as "Beta"!Michael.A.W.Yu

David Gonterman said: The way I think it:Windows 1, 2, and 3.XX were numbered accordingly.Windows 4 is the 9X family, 95, 98, and the Legendary MEWindows 5 is XP, which I tended to avoid like the plague.Windows 6 is Vista.And with this next-gen version of Windows, we're back to the original numbering, which will be at 7.Yeah, but with due respect, you "think it" wrong. :-)You must remember that Vista and W7 are from the NT-family of OSs. The 9X family are completely different, and that code base was abandoned after ME. At no time was the 9X family ever referred to as "Windows 4".There is plenty of information available on Wikipedia, if you just look:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Windowshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_Family_Tree.svg

Hi, To view the current Windows version, the easy way: Click Start, type cmd in Start Search bar and press enter, You can see the Windows version in CMD window. Thanks.

All that David was trying to say there was that the the Windows 9X family was the 4th release of Windows and could be called Windows 4. This is especially true considering the 'new' naming convention that M$ has adopted. It seems to reason that since M$ started with a numbering system and have adopted that same system once more that the middle ground could be referenced in the same way today. I don't believe that he was saying that they called it 'Windows 4' when the OS was released.Derf~!

David Gonterman said: The way I think it:Windows 1, 2, and 3.XX were numbered accordingly.Windows 4 is the 9X family, 95, 98, and the Legendary MEWindows 5 is XP, which I tended to avoid like the plague.Windows 6 is Vista.And with this next-gen version of Windows, we're back to the original numbering, which will be at 7.Hmmm... If you avoided XP, which of the others do you use?

Thack said: It will be marketed as Windows 7. But internally it will be Windows 6.1. The workstation versions of the 32-bit NT family go like this: NT 3.1 NT 3.5 NT 3.51 NT 4 Windows 2000 (NT 5) Windows XP (NT 5.1) Windows Vista (NT 6.0) Windows 7 (NT 6.1) Actually, I've just noticed it's all on Wikipedia, which gives a lot more detail than I have: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_nt Great post! Can we get a sticky on this? I don't want to be the Search Police. People just want to know.

Yeah, sometimes the most amazing stuff shows up on Wikepedia!This thread is like a flash back in time. I had so much fun with all of those! Yes, even ME - heehee. Such entertainment! All of them!!! Kris -------- Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P F7, E7200 2.53@3.76ghz, 2x1gb OCZ Reaper1150@1188, EVGA 9800GTX+ N873 , Win 7 7000