They had to skip Windows 9 for technical reasons. A lot of poorly written software was checking the version string and refusing to run because it assumed any version number that started with “Windows 9” was Windows 95 or Windows 98. They didn’t skip a whole release cycle, they just changed the version number from 9 to 10.

deleted by creator

I thought I’d killed my Laurus Nobilis after it didn’t get water for basically the whole previous winter but it’s bounced back surprisingly well. It needs pruning and fertilizing but it still has green leaves!