OSX came out in 2000, around the time of Windows ME and 2000.  Unlike Windows though it has been an evolution since then because they already had a good thing going.  While Windows jumped from 2000 and ME to XP to Vista to Windows 7 now OSX has just gone .1, .2, .3, .4 and .5.  Everything I bought in 2000 for OSX still works perfectly and features have just been added not removed.  It's gotten better, more stable, faster and all the rest while Windows has just gotten more and more bloated with every re-release.  I don't think Microsoft has stuck with a single OS design for more then 5 years (the 5 years of XP and of 95/98 are the longest stints) while OSX is going on a decade.

    Maybe by Windows 10 in 2020 they can reach a OS they can stick with instead of bouncing around.  I swear, the people who run Windows development are the same people running John McCain's campaign; they just can't pick a strategy and stick to it!   Use Windows!  We're erratic!

Well the thing is 7's kernel will be version 6.1. How MSFT avoids an unholy load of confusion--that's beyond me.

For quite awhile I have been saying that Microsoft should really scrap backwards compatibility and legacy features within Windows, create a "built in" virtual machine to run programs in legacy-mode, and focus on creating a high quality operating system ...

Personally, I have seen (practically) no reason to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista and I have yet to hear of a single reason why I would want to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. If an upgrade meant that all of the design decisions made for DOS had finally been removed from the system, and the system was finally very secure, I would probably be first in line to upgrade.

This does however add an extra layer of complexity for a user along with possibly a lot of overhead (akin to running a VM right now) depending on how much of a full system environment you needed to mimic versus embedding hooks into the regular system for a "compatibility mode."  It also neglects the new hypervisor model by essentially putting the legacy system into the running one.  Even worse, software compatibility is one of Windows' core competencies so whatever solution Microsoft comes up with must be seamless or risk another disaster.

ZOMFG!

FF7 REMAKE EXCLUSIVE to Windows 7 CONFIRMED!!!!!

PS3 is DOOOMED!

Home versions of Windows, by major kernel changes:

Windows 1.0
Windows 2.0
Windows 3.0; 3.2
Windows 95, 98, ME
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7

Yup, 7.

Thanks for the update HaloG.

You forgot Win 2000.

Windows 2000 was a business release.

I stand corrected.

I'm sorry, if you want we can go back and edit our posts where we are discussing the Seinfeld ads... :)