Dks01 To an extent, yes; but many of the examples you cite were marketing names only. What you call “Windows 95” was actually Windows version 4.00.950; “Windows 2000” was Windows NT 5.0; “Windows XP” was Windows NT 5.1, etc. While they have skipped versions, Microsoft has never given up on actual version numbers for their software so far, nor tried to force all of their main platforms to have the same major version number.
Yes, Microsoft has had their periods of idiotic re-naming of things, like the whole nonsensical, confusing .NET era, but that’s not quite the same.
The Netscape example you mention is a completely different situation, and was the result of Microsoft’s monopolistic shenanigans, resulting in Netscape Communications Corporation, a publicly-traded company, imploding, being sold, and its core technology ultimately giving rise to a non-profit foundation working on a number of open-source software projects.
