Microsoft reveals the reason why there was no Windows 9

A finger about to push the windows button on a laptop keyboard
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When Windows 10 was first announced, everyone immediately had one burning question to ask Microsoft concerning the freshly rejigged OS. And that question was: “Uhh, what the hell happened to Windows 9?”

Windows 8 followed sequentially on from Windows 7, but somehow, Windows 9 got skipped – and it seems that’s something Redmond isn’t afraid to joke about, via Joe Belfiore’s and other Microsoft staff members’ T-shirts.

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Yes, Business Insider reports that Belfiore (who is Corporate VP of Operating Systems at Microsoft) was snapped wearing the special T-shirt at the Build conference last week, with the garment bearing a binary-coded message that enterprising developer Kevin Gosse deciphered by scrutinising the photo.

So what did it say? Well, there were four sentences in binary in each quadrant of the Windows logo on the shirt, one of which ‘explained’ the fate of Windows 9.

It read: “Windows 10, because 7 8 9.”

Ha-ha, indeed. If you don’t get it, read the sentence out loud – because apparently, Windows 7 ate Windows 9.

This is actually a joke that has done the rounds on the net before, as was another of the coded sentences, which read: “There are 10 types of people in the world” – an old binary gag.

The real reason why Windows 9 was ditched? We reckon it’s simply because Microsoft wanted to literally put some distance between the flop that was (and still is) Windows 8 and its successor. It’s a psychological play and a reference to the fact that Windows 10 is a big step on, and far removed, from Windows 8.

Darren Allan

Darren has over 25 years of experience in digital and magazine publishing as a writer and editor. He's also an author, having co-written a novel published by Little, Brown (Hachette UK). He currently writes news, features and buying guides for TechRadar, and occasionally other Future websites such as T3 or Creative Bloq and he's a copy editor for TechRadar Pro. Darrran has written for a large number of tech and gaming websites/magazines in the past, including Web User and ComputerActive. He has also worked at IDG Media, having been the Editor of PC Games Solutions and the Deputy Editor of PC Home.