Does the Chrome team think they need to reach version number parity with the other browsers? At least from a UI standpoint, the current version of Chrome that I'm using (5.0.375.99 Beta) is not enough different from the first Beta to warrant 4 full version numbers. About the only features that I can think of that are visibly new are the themes and the extension system. Did themes come with v4?
Also, if there are good reasons to warrant full version number change, then why are those versions installing automatically? A full version change is not an "update". It should be much more explicit to the user that a new full version is available.
Does the Chrome team think they need to reach version number parity with the other browsers? At least from a UI standpoint, the current version of Chrome that I'm using (5.0.375.99 Beta) is not enough different from the first Beta to warrant 4 full version numbers.
Version number parity is kind of amusing and silly because version numbers are arbitrary, right? But if version numbers are arbitrary, then on what basis can one say that a higher number is not warranted?
if version numbers are arbitrary, then on what basis can one say that a higher number is not warranted?
I'm just really angry that they're changing meaningless numbers as if they have meaning. They're such idiots for thinking the numbers matter enough to change them.
They are changing them to push updates. Your browser won't update unless a version with a higher number is available, so they have to increase the number.
Most companies bundle updates (example: windows service packs) which means they only need to increase version number a few times. Chrome decided to update continuously instead.
The number changes are not meaningless; there is change in the background, you just don't see it.
It seems the chrome team simply doesn't do "releases". Chrome evolves over time, and every so often they bump up the release number, but they're not working to a release in the same way as Photoshop or Firefox. This reduces the significance of the release number, but that's just a product of the differing development model.
I'm pretty sure we are just being exposed to the internal developer versions, which don't have the arbitrary stupidity of public-facing versions. All the numbers mean is 'this build is more recent than the build you have on your machine'.
No. I'm not involved with Google or Chrome but I follow a few tickets.
4, 5, and 6 are just milestones for project planning. Version 6 is about feature parity across platforms. They've been cranking on code quite intensely and therefore hitting the milestones quick.
This last v5 to v6 change was a little surprising as the browser skin changed, but there are no major features that make v6 wildly different from v5. It's just a continuum of tiny updates silently getting applied in the background.
The Chrome team uses version numbers in a very developer centric way. Any time they want to make a major breaking change they bump the major version number, irrespective of any marketing needs. This has the added benefit, as was intended with version numbering from the get-go, of making it dead-easy to determine which major features are in which release.
Also, if there are good reasons to warrant full version number change, then why are those versions installing automatically? A full version change is not an "update". It should be much more explicit to the user that a new full version is available.