[MikeHolman]

This is somewhat true, but Windows is a perfect example of this not working. There was no Windows 9, because of fear of people using the Windows string name to detect Windows 95/98 (or at least that is the prominent theory).

[arthurfm]

This is also why the Windows 10 May 2020 update is v2004 instead of v2003 to avoid issues with old software thinking it is running on Windows Server 2003. [1]

[1] https://www.theregister.com/2019/11/27/windows_10_2004/

[plorg]

My manager at work came across this version number on a document properties screen (possibly in Word?), thinking it referred to the version of software the document was written in. We bullshitted a bit about how we're still iterating on 16-yo documents, until I googled and found that it was a new MS version.

(I often find that a document I am editing at work was created by "Valued Gateway 2000 Customer")

[ytch]

Yes, Microsoft skips windows 9 because some code use "Windows 9" for windows 95/98:

https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2hwlrk/new_wind...

[olliej]

When safari 2.0.4 was first released huge numbers of websites broke simply because they detected Netscape 4 by doing navigator.useragent.indexif(“4”)>0

Never underestimate the ability of developer hacks to screw things for years.

Many releases after had a lot of paranoia about including the character 4 in the version number

[mattkevan]

Ah, that makes sense.

I thought it was because they wanted to go to 10, like Mac OS X. Same as the Xbox 360 was called that because they didn’t want to bring out the Xbox 2 when Sony was bringing out the PS3.

[peterburkimsher]

I also thought it was because of TenVer! "Windows 9x" makes more sense.

https://github.com/cube-drone/tenver

Like Spinal Tap, now it's time that this one goes to 11.

[deberon]

That doesn’t explain the naming of Xbox One though.

[mortenjorck]

That name was chosen for the console’s original (if largely abandoned) vision of being a single hub for gaming, live TV, and streaming: https://www.vg247.com/2013/05/28/xbox-one-microsoft-exec-exp...

[Kipters]

It also ties in with Microsoft's "One" line of names: OneDrive, OneNote, OneCore etc