Microsoft has traditionally used a fairly fixed version number scheme for its operating systems: first Windows 7, then Windows 8, and then… Windows 10 and Windows 11.

That’s right. They just skipped Windows 9. Microsoft simply decided not to call their Windows 8 successor Windows 9, but went with Windows 10 instead, originally codenamed Threshold.

So don't worry, you didn't miss a major version of Windows. You don't have to download something called "Windows 9" and technically you don't really have to understand why Microsoft skipped it.

Keep reading, though, to learn more about why the name was skipped and why you're probably better off downloading programs named "Windows 9."