In message <
[email protected]>, "Ken Blake,
MVP said:
Note that all recent Windows versions have two names--the internal
Microsoft name (or version number) and the marketing name. So,
Windows 95 is version 4
Windows 98 is version 4.1
Windows Me is version 4.9
Windows 2000 is version 5
Windows XP is version 5.1
Windows Vista is version 6.0
Windows 7 is version 6.1
Windows 8 is version 6.2
[]
Although those are probably correct, they aren't really a progression:
95/98/Me are the end of a series, with NT3.51/NT4/2000/XP more or a
progression in _how they worked_ - though from NT4 on that branch
started to _look like_ the 9x series.
A lot is to do with the underlying disc format, though XP (and possibly
Vista?) _can_ run on FATxx.
Are you saying Anything after XP or possibly Vista cant use the Fat32
format? I have never owned any of them, so I dont know.
Also, I had thought that Windows 7 was considered to be the 7th in the
windows series???? Meaning that Vista is the 6th and Windows 7 is the
7th..... I dont know how Windows 7 can be 6.1????
I can see Win95, 98, 98SE and ME being the 4th, since they were similar.
and Win2000 and XP being the 5th since they were similar
So if Vista was the 6th, then the numbers would progress as they are
labeled in Windows 7 and 8 (and 8.1).
I'm not saying I have any proof of this, it's just what I thought????
The naming convention, Windows 95, Windows 98, ET. AL. is just
marketing, IMO, and have nothing to do with the version number of the
operating system. On thing Ken Blake didn't mention is there was a
Windows 95 SR2 package. SR meaning Service Release, IIRC. That's when
MS switched from the FAT16 to FAT32 file system. I remember the dire
warning back then, that if you chose to switch, there was no going back.
<G> I would think there would have been a nominal change in the
version number, but I don't know that for sure.
I keep it simple in my head... When the version number does a whole
number increase, it's a major rewrite, possible a complete rewrite, of
the OS. Any decimal numbers are just small changes and enhancements,
and today a lot of eye candy is involved. So, underneath the eye candy,
95, 98, and ME are similar, 2000 and XP are similar, and Vista, 7, and 8
are similar. You can easily see this in that many of the dialogue boxes
for each group can be identical, they are just moved around like the
"deck chairs on the Titanic. There is some carry over from XP to later
versions.
My XP Pro computer is actually version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build
2600. If you want to know how to find out what yours is, follow the
following steps:
1. Open the Start Menu.
2. XP gives you a choice to 2 styles of Start Menu, the XP rounded
style, or a "Classic:
Style". Do you see a "Run..." option? If Yes, go to Step 8. If
not, continue to step 3.
3. Right click on the Start Menu button, and select Properties.
4. Click on the Start Menu tab.
5. You have a choice of using the XP Start Menu, or an older Classic
Start Menu. One
of those options will be selected. Click the Customize button
next to the selected
option. If the XP Start Menu is selected, in the window that
opens click on the
Advanced tab. Scroll down the list until you find "Run command"
and click the box
next to it until you have a check mark. If you have a Classic
Start Menu, click the box
next to "Display Run" until it is checked.
6. Click OK until you are back on the desktop.
7. Open the Start Menu.
8. Click on the Run icon.
9. In the Run dialogue box that opens, type in "MSINFO32", no quotation
marks, and
click on OK or press Return.
In a few seconds, you'll get a System Information window with more
information than you may ever want to know. The first 2 lines on the
right side will be the name of your operating system and the version number.
If you want to know more of the version numbers...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Microsoft_Windows_versions
FWIW, MS did the same kind of thing with MS Office. Remember back when
it was Word 6? IIRC, that was version 6 of MS Word. But the name of
the suite was Office 4.3 Professional, if you had the top of the line
package. Fast forward to XP, and the companion MS Office product line
is MS Office 2003. Same silly marketing, as the actual version number
of all the included software is version 11.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/821549 If you happen to have one of the
MS Office packages installed, you can find the same information in the
System Information window.
Are we confused yet? LOL
--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"
