Can Microsoft Count?

Long ago, some time back in the 1980s, there was Windows, a pretty but fairly useless thing that sat on top of DOS. And then Windows 2. I got to play a little with both, but there was no software for them. Then there was Windows 3, and then 3.1, which actually worked as a software platform, though it wasn't quite an operating system -- it still sat on top of DOS. Then came Windows 95, and Windows 98, (with and -- briefly -- without the SE), and then ME, which MS would probably prefer us to forget, and XP, and Vista. (And Windows 2000 was in there somewhere, but not marketed for home users.) So why is the next great thing going to be Windows 7? Which of the intermediate ones didn't count? Or is it the early ones we're supposed to forget ever happened?

Blue necklace, for a change

Necklace 17 Assorted glass, silver-plated filigree.