Two weeks ago, Mozilla's Asa Dotzler confirmed that the company would begin hiding the version number of Firefox in the "Help-> About" window dialog.
If you wanted to check the version number, you would have to head over to the about:support page.
This week, however, the company has reversed course and says they will keep the current system in place:
There are no plans to adjust ... [ read the full article ]
Please read the original article before posting your comments.
Why am I not using the latest version of firefox? because some plugins don't work with the latest version. In fact, VMWare stuff needs older firefox versions to run correctly (well, at least last I checked, they might of updated since then).
It's just weird, how computers have always been about version numbers (software, etc) and yet suddenly, firefox wanted to changed 50 years of computing history to be different.
Honestly, I've rarely come across addons that don't work with the latest version of FF. Sure a few months ago nothing worked, but now that's no longer the case. You may just need to install the Addon Compatibility Reporter to get them to work. That said, it's quite sad that I need half a dozen addons for the specific purpose of making 9.01a work like it should but hasn't since prior to 4.x.
I have always been under the understanding that version numbers (at least the significant ones) were used to allude to MAJOR changes in one's software/hardware.
Although we aren't talking about AMD/Intel playing games with the mHz ratings of processors, they (like other manufacturers) still kept in check with realistic numbering systems to inference major hardware & architectural changes. Now we have Apple & FF changing major version numbers for nothing more than service pack updates.
Is this a new marketing scheme? Some kind of new business model that a college graduate schmuck has come up with thinking it will produce more sales? Not that I'm that much of a traditionalist, but shouldn't some standards remain? If I may use an electronics analogy, we can't just up & trade the red wire for the black one just because we thought it would cosmetically look better in our new gadget.
I suppose I'm saying, if a couple of companies are doing this now, how many are going to follow suit & then confuse the hell out of everyone?
Technically this isn't really about their rapid release cycle (though that was cited as justification). It's about where the user has to go to find the version number.
