Windows 7 to be officially named... Windows 7
By Nilay Patel 
posted Oct 13th 2008 6:12PM
posted Oct 13th 2008 6:12PM
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There is no need to really change it as everyone is already familiar with this name.
So, what IS new in Windows 7?
the naming scheme
Actually, no. Remember windows 3.1?
well, I don't, but I know it existed.
I REMEMBER! I'd always quit to MS-DOS because Commander Keen would be too slow running under Win 3.1
"According to Mike Nash on the Vista blog, the company went with Windows 7 because it "just makes sense" as the seventh release of Windows"
So if it "just makes sense," why wasn't Vista called Windows 6? And XP called Windows 5? Or did it "just make sense" once Vista was shunned? Um, yeah.
Me, I say go for Windows 2010 Ultimate Classic Platinum Experience Edition Pro. That captures the essence of Windows in a nutshell.
Now to sit back and watch everyone who praises Windows 7 get voted up and anyone who doesn't shower Microsoft with slobbery love get voted down. It's the Engadget Way.
This comments board brought to you by Microsoft (TM).
"Windows 2010 Ultimate Classic Platinum Experience Edition Pro"
Dude.... I'd tap that.
wow Quix you got that worked up over "it just makes sense"?
what if i told you i love Vista and OSX is totally unusable
@quix
windows vista is 6... XP is 5.1... 2000 was NT 5.0... and NT 4 came out when windows 95 came out (also 4.0 but not NT)
@kojo87
He's an Apple fanatic, so he actually thinks normal people can actually see a point to his post
@ Mike B
Yes, Vista was 6... but 7 is 6.1.
I'm not sure... Looks like Vista.
yet Quix was right and people made fun of him just like he predicted.
@phanboy
And yet he didn't prevent himself from failing.
For the winners too lazy to do any research on what will be new in "7", here is an excellent resource:
http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/windows_7.asp
sbrown23: that makes people winners?
It just makes sense eh?
3.1
95
NT
98
ME
2000
XP
VIsta
7?
So which ones aren't they counting? ME wasn't a real OS so you could leave that one out. NT wasn't really for home PCs so does that get left out too?
@Kelemvor - 7 refers to this being Windows NT version 7. The Windows NT version numbers are consistent ever since NT was created:
Windows NT until version 3.x
Windows 2000 = NT 4.x
Windows XP = NT 5.x
Windows Vista = NT 6.x
Windows 7 = NT 7.x.
When you start the Command Prompt, the NT version is printed out on the first line of text.
The weirdo ranting and raving above aside, Microsoft knows that the Vista brand name is tainted and so they want a fresh start. Windows 7 is pretty good, IMO - just get back to engineering basics.
Technically, the order is this...
For consumer versions:
1.0
2.0
2.1 (in 286 and 386 versions - 8088 and 8086 users were stuck with 2.0)
3.0 (last version with 8088/8086 support)
3.1
4.0 (95)
4.1 (98)
4.9 (ME)
NT 5.1 (XP)
NT 6.0 (Vista)
For business versions:
NT 3.1
NT 3.5x
NT 4.0
NT 5.0 (2000)
NT 5.1 (XP)
NT 6.0 (Vista)
Item 1, 2, and 3 of course
@ Peter
Hell YES Commander Keen! And Jazz Jackrabbit, and Raptor, and all kinds of other kinda of old-school, low quality but IMMENSELY enjoyable video games.
Can't forget One Must Fall 2099, but I think that was more of a Win95 thing. My dad actually bitched me and my bro out for wearing out the Ctrl key on the keyboard from OMF2099.
you forgot 3.11 :/
Heh, low ranked? Not my fault that their numbers don't match.
Nobody mentioned 2003 (5.2) and 2008 (also 6.0).
Windows 7 is vista reloaded!
Vista is to Windows 7
as
DOS 6.2 is to DOS 6.22
I can't wait for Apple to bring on the 10 > 7 commercials. I hope they film them on the preschool playground too, as to match their maturity.
I'm so glad Microsoft made the "I am a PC" commercials I haven't seen any of those annoying Mac ads lately...
There really isn't anything here to make fun of, considering they've been on the OS %Number naming scheme since just about day one.
I'm surprised Engadget didn't cry foul over Microsoft using the same Windows %Number schema for this iteration.
Like it makes a difference anyway.
Nilay, that was pretty painful to read.
So are most of your posts.
If it hurts when you're reading, you're doing wrong.
I always hate Nilay's posts because they're mostly hard to read...
will it be as slow and painful as vista. I hope they make it more efficient, and hardware friendly. But alas there in it for the money not for pleasing customers.
Wow saying vista is slow .. What a new idea ..
Pssst. It's not the OS, its your computer :)
I run Vista 64 Ultimate and it is the fastest and most stable OS I have ever used.
I'm not a Microsoft fan boy, Vista just works and it works well. Try upping your ram.
My Vista laptop boots faster than my XP Desktop...Vista is only slow on computers not build to handle it.
Exactly i run Vista Ult. 64 and 8 GB of ram and slow is not a word i would use here
Y'know I was thinking
OBJECTION!!!
Hardy Heron!
Intrepid Ibex!
Leopard!
Snow Leopard!
Android!
.......
7
wtf? hmm.
7 of 9
:-)
Just make sure it's out before Duke Nukem Forever; which I estimate to be release Dec. 4, 2017
It actually does sound kind of cool when you put it that way.
SEVEN
Has anyone else noticed that "Hardy Heron" is just a spoonerism away from "Hairy Hardon"?
Not "Buena Vista"? The Good version of Vista?
No, that was mojave.
Same old barbie doll, they just added a new hat.
we'll see how good it is... Me looked a lot like 98 with more bells and whistles and look how buena that turned out!
"Uh, sure, call it whatever you like, just get it out the door on time, okay?"
No! No, no, no! This was exactly the reason Vista was such a disaster, because they were so desperate to get it released after so many delays. Keep it until it's done RIGHT, no matter how long it takes.
Microsoft have NEVER done something right
@z0phi3l
Dumbass.
Put aside a few people to work on an inventive name and have a competition between them and the coders. Whoever finishes first gets beat up by the other group and told, "Get back to work you lazy bastards."
z0phi3l is right.
z0phi3l is right.
"Windows VII" would go along with the likes of "OS X".
If you look at it that way, it's almost like the Wii.
Windows Vii.
Catchy, right?
@tuaamin13: I was going to point that out as well, until I realised that in German it would sound like "Windows Wie", literally meaning "Windows How".
Vii is also like Vie which means life (Windows Live) but that's stretching it.
Isn't Vii also the name of that terrible Wii knockoff?
hopefully it'll be more successful than the Vii gaming console (wipes tears from his eyes.) If i wasn't so lazy i'd get a link to the vii for you guys.
So glad that we all got screwed so hard by Vista, just to have them move on to a new OS before their release of XP even stops. They are basically acknowledging that Vista was a complete failure.
I like vista.
So do I. I don't see why everyone hates it (besides a few annoying things in almost every os). :/
well thats,,,,, interesting?
I wish they would have called Windows XP "Windows 2001". That would show people how stupid it is to still be using the archaic system 7-8 years out.
In this case, new wasn't exactly better though. XP is tried and true, even if almost a decade old. You could say that MSFT took a lot of time to get that one right too, though.
As opposed to an OS based on UNIX?
AN OS based on Unix is not bad. Unix is a stable foundation to build upon. The same is true for an OS based on Windows NT code. Windows 2000 was the last truly good operating system that MS made. XP was just fluff tacked on top. I'm not a fan of Vista, but if you are going to buy a new computer anyways, don't downgrade to XP. That's just silly.
There aren't a lot of "must have" features in Vista that XP is missing out on. Most of the features have been augmented in any way by Microsoft via several software packages (i.e. Window Search 4.0).
It still remains to be seen whether Windows 7 will end the shamefulness of an OS that Windows Vista is. So many UI inconsistencies and the choice of black for the UI strains my eyes!
Yeah, XP wasn't that great until a while after SP2. And all the people gushing about XP now are the same people who bitched about how SP2 was slow and broke stuff. Vista at release was much better than XP at release.
No Vista wasn't better at release, iofthestorm. Although much of the blame lies with software and hardware vendors. Vendors failed to provide support in a timely manner and some still fail to this day to provide full support. I didn't get a Vista computer until this year in August, just due to all the slowness for support. I'm not happy that 2 of my favorite programs have decided to strip down some features for Vista but continue them for XP, which makes no sense to me at all. So I will be looking elsewhere for replacements. Stripping down features and lack of support for the newer OS, even though it has been out long enough, is a good way to keep many people using the old one. XP cannot go away until vendors step up and embrace Vista enough so that no one will want to go back.
Why not just Vista 2.0?
Because the name "Vista" already carries a negative connotation. I like it, but the "cool" thing nowadays is to bash Vista, even if you don't know why, so MS would never integrate the Vista name into any future products.
Then why not 'Mojave'?
Windows 7, becuase 6 8 9
7 of 9
:-)
Staying firmly rooted in the ideas of Vista is a little bit like staying in Iraq.
except that Steve Ballmer is a bit smarter than George Bush.
everyone in here is smarter than G. Bush !!!!
"Yep, the code name is the real name, which is a first for Windows."
what was the code name for Windows 3.x?
Janus
Apple System 7.
I'd be happy if all Microsoft did was remove the ancient, and useless, OS dependency on drive letters. Who uses a B: drive?
True, the whole A:\ B:\ C:\ idea is hard to explain to kids.
what the hell is a B drive?
Hmm.. that reminds me.. somewhere in my basement, there should be a 5.25" floppy drive. I would be really cool and retro to have a B: drive again ;-)
/dev/
You can assign any drive to the letter B. It isn't specifically reserved for a 5" floppy drive. The hard drive letters by default start at C because A and B are reserved for floppy drives, but if you don't have a second floppy drive you can assign it to anything.
I (and my family) use a B:\, it is set in the logon script, mapped to my server' s RAID drives and is our family's backup location. :)
i honestly did not know what a B drive was! that warrants neg rep now? im glad my question was answered though. i always wondered why my old Gateway went A, C, D, E
/b/ is for random.
What is under 720kb anymore? A solitary word doc?
You do realise that you don't need to use drive letters anymore?? except most programmers assume you have drive letters and so they keep programming 'for' them :-( so Microsoft are forced to keep the drive letter support in there for backwards compatibility :-(
Call it whatever you want, but please get rid of the CRAPPY network sharing and security center and the rest of the crappy wizards (like the "network sharing wizard"), OR just provide a checkbox somewhere that says "I'm not a huge retard, please don't show me any of this hand-holding crap."
It's called Linux, the OS for the grown up PC user
@z0phi3l
Dumbass.
You can cry "Linux" or "OSX" all you want, but the fact is that in a professional environment Windows dominates. Any computer professional who implements computer systems for decent sized companies will tell you that unless you have some rogue graphics arts department, 99% of the time they deploy Windows machines due to specialized software that doesn't run on anything else. For example, I just designed a complete systems infrastructure for a medical practice which included Vista boxes and a Server 2008 server (as well as a LOAD of Cisco gear - routers, switches, phones, ASA, etc.).
Why Vista/Server 08? Is it because I hate Linux? No. I've been a fan of Linux since 1994, and while I'm sure there are many out there who have been using it longer than I have, I'd say that's a pretty long time. Is it because I hate Macs? No. I'm typing this on my 24" iMac at home. Sad truth is, the medical industry, and a lot of other industries have specialized software that's Windows only, so that's what they HAVE to get. Getting professional support for Windows is a lot easier and cheaper for businesses like this than support for Linux/Mac even if those platforms were options for their software.
The thing that gets me - and the reason for my original complaint - when I fired up Server 2008 for the very first time, tried to team my NICs, and found out that Network Sharing and Security Center was included in Server 08, I slapped my head and said "Doh."
Please Microsoft - get rid of it, or turn it off... at least in the Server products and in the Vista Business platform... or at least include an option. Even my OSX network configuration wizard isn't as lame as Sharing and Security Center.
If Linux didn't cost me a ton of time, money, and loss of functionality to upgrade to I'd do it. Currently a good portion of my hardware does not work with Linux, wireless and other things often take forever to setup if they are less common devices, and I also can't do what I do on Windows (play games, ps, etc.). I used to run Ubuntu dual booted on my older comp, but it's really not worth the trouble for me to do it again.
@z0phi3l
"It's called Linux, the OS for the grown up PC user that still lives with their parents."
Fixed that for you.
Vista doesn't look bad at all, its pretty sexy, its just the features are lacking bigtime, which drags it all down. So if it looks the same, i will be very happy
Didn't anyone remember that Vista looked like XP at first because the GUI is the last thing they do? Why bother with the GUI when better work is to be done with coding and stuff?
But seriously though, XP needs to die out sooner rather than later. Want MS to be able to move on without people crying nostalgia? Get off the archaic XP machine you're using, and get a prebuilt at Best Buy or something. Vista's been out long enough that there are few "Not-actually-Vista-ready" machines available, and quite frankly, it's fine. Just get over the bad feedback from people trying to use it on their older machines. Or heck, build a whole new machine.