Windows 10 is identified by some apps as Windows 9

Oct 25, 2014 06:52 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft presented the new Windows 10 during a press conference on September 30, and the company took almost everyone by surprise when it officially disclosed the name of the new operating system.

The whole world expected the new release to be called Windows 9, but Microsoft instead decided to go for Windows 10, without disclosing any reasons on its choice to skip a full release.

Windows 10 Technical Preview is now available for download, and thanks to a number of references found deep in the operating system, we finally get more information on why Windows 9 never came out, but also on the way Microsoft actually decided on the new name of the software product.

Third-party system information tools that scan computers and provide details on hardware and software running on a specific PC identify Windows 10 as Windows 9, which could be a sign that there’s still some code left in the operating system that Microsoft hasn’t changed after picking the new name.

A decision made at the very last minute

Almost everyone expected Microsoft to call the new operating system Windows 9, but as Terry Myerson, chief of the operating system unit at the company, said in late September, the decision was made only at the very last minute.

And the adjacent screenshot comes as living proof that this indeed true. Microsoft most likely called the new operating system Windows 9 the whole time, but it decided to rename it to Windows 10 just before launch.

As you can see, it’s pretty clear that the company didn’t have enough time to adjust all the code for Windows 10, so today’s finding is another sign that Microsoft originally called its new operating system Windows 9.

Reasons for the change undisclosed

What’s interesting is that, during this whole time, Microsoft hasn’t said anything about its decision to skip Windows 9, so it’s easy to see how lots of rumors reached the web pointing to all kinds of scenarios.

The most plausible claims that Microsoft actually calls the new OS Windows 10 in order to emphasize the focus on a new beginning, pointing out that the amount of improvements in this release is much more obvious thanks to the jump over Windows 9.

Another source, however, claimed that the name change was a decision based on software incompatibilities caused by Windows 95. It turns out that some applications were identifying Windows 9 as Windows 95, so they failed to install, or in some of the cases, they weren’t running properly due to old code.

Microsoft still tries to keep everything secret, so until the company says something official on the reason to skip Windows 9, nobody will know for sure what actually happened.