Still confused about why the new version of Windows is 10, instead of 9? Beyond the loosely defined numbering schemes that are all too common in tech, a note posted to Reddit could provide an answer. Reddit user cranbourne claims to be a Microsoft developer, and cites rumors that early testing with the name “Windows 9” ran into problems with code some third-party developers used as a shortcut to detect when apps are running on Windows 95 or Windows 98.
When Windows 10 got announced, there was one immediately glaring question: Why Windows 10? Maybe for the extra distance from 8, but a Redditor who claims to be a Microsoft dev has a better—and funnier—answer. The name “Windows 9” could break a whole bunch of lazy code. If you’re not code literate, allow me to explain. An easy (and lazy, and bad) way to check what version of Windows a user is running is to just read in the first little bit of the name the operating system is using to identify itself. There are better ways to do it, but if that first bit reads “Windows 9” it means the operating system has to be either Windows 95 or Windows 98. Unless of course there’s a Windows 9.
