>>>>Number 9 .... number 9 .... number 9 ....
>>>
>>>Same thing that happened to VFP 4.0
>>
>>That one I understood. Visual Studio was new and MSFT wanted to align the version numbers of VFP, C, and VB. This one I don't get.
>
>To match Apple OS/X - it's pathetic.

If that's the reason, it's not miserable (I really find the use of "pathetic" to mean anything but "evoking pathos"... pathetic :), it's a cultural thing. Microsoft was _always_ imitating Apple. It's a tradition which always worked fine - so why stop after 25+ years?