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If we take a look at the list of Microsoft Windows versions from Wikipedia we will see (in order of release date) that Windows NT 4.0 has the release version NT 4.0, Windows 98 has 4.10 and Windows 2000 has NT 5.0

Why doesn't Windows 98 have NT in its release version? Every major Windows release like XP, XP Pro, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 has NT in their release versions.

Burgi
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JChris
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    Windows 98 isn't built on the NT kernel. Windows XP was the first home consumer version of Windows that uses the NT kernel – Ramhound May 14 '17 at 16:02
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    & neither was ME, they both followed on from Win95, not WinNT – Tetsujin May 14 '17 at 16:03
  • @Ramhound wasn't Windows 2000 released to consumers? I believe that was based on the NT core. – Burgi Mar 07 '19 at 09:37
  • Windows 98 was more like Windows 98 for Workgroups than Windows NT 3.x. Windows NT 3.x and versions before it were more like Windows Server. While people did use Windows 2000 and you could upgrade to Windows XP Windows XP was marketed to everyone (business and personal computer owner alike) – Ramhound Mar 07 '19 at 12:47

3 Answers3

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Because "NT" was their professional grade product line and was completely distinct from the "consumer" series.

While they shared similar version numbers I suspect these were only intended to be used to denote a minimum level of compatibility or support.

Windows 9x and previous versions share a heritage and core with MS-DOS support at their centre.

Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced from 1995 to 2000, which were based on the Windows 95 kernel and its underlying foundation of MS-DOS, both of which were updated in subsequent versions. This includes all versions of Windows 95 and Windows 98. Windows ME is sometimes included.

Windows NT was a separate code-base from the Windows 3.1 and 9x series and shared inter-operability with Windows executables, but was made to be secure and more dedicated to server environments. While they supported MS-DOS commands, it was not the "core" of the system.

The first version of Windows NT was Windows NT 3.1 and was produced for workstations and server computers. It was intended to complement consumer versions of Windows (including Windows 1.0 through Windows 3.1x) that were based on MS-DOS. Gradually, the Windows NT family was expanded into Microsoft's general-purpose operating system product line for all personal computers, deprecating the Windows 9x family.

Mokubai
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4

Windows 98 was still part of the DOS-based Win 9x branch and thus originated from a different kernel than NT based OSes.

Some more information here: Does Windows still rely on MS-DOS?

Hefewe1zen
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Because 9x and NT are different product lines and use different kernels

The 9x branch ends with Windows 98 and Windows ME. Since then every desktop Windows is based on NT kernel

phuclv
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