To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Seems a bit too inconsistent ( http://www.opera.com/docs/history/ ) - 2009 was only the closing year of Opera 9.x, a version which spanned 3 years (OK, 9 could have been more or less the beginning of practice); Opera 10.x was available already in September 2009; and while 11.x seems close enough, middle of December 2010 - now we have 12.x only already halfway through the year.
Either way, now would be a good opportunity to make it more thorough.
What insanity and what do you mean by 'version inflation'? Seems perfectly sane and typical to me.
Personally, I hate date based release numbers because they feel forced. What I mean is that most commercial programs that use date based versions are:
A) released prior to the year that they reference and
B) use date based versioning to coerce users to upgrade because they perceive the age of the software.
(example: AutoCAD 2012 - and every yearly release - is released in the summer prior, in this case 2011)
I recall a PC Mag article where John Dvorak thought that MS (with Windows 3.11 ) and other software vendors should move to dated based versioning scheme. Windows 95 did come later making me think he had inside info.
Using dated versions helps the consumer. Consumers know how long an iteration of their software has been on the market. Having a non-dated and arbitrary number scheme allows vendors to sell more due to confusion, as well as fend off the perception that "ShrinkWrap 95", even though it's patched and still used in 2012 is progressive.
MS is back to using a sequential number scheme for Windows.
Edited 2012-06-15 18:04 UTC




Member since:
2005-07-06
Perhaps Opera has a convenient opportunity to shrug off the insanity with version numbers inflation, by moving to date-based versioning scheme? (yes, kinda like Ubuntu)
Though they probably don't care much about this aspect; likewise their "the most loyal fanbase" (that probably includes me).
PS. Not sure what to think about one of the few highlighted skins, that with the Cookie Monster... (from Do-Not-Track inclusion? http://kyon.pl/tag,1,4661,cookie_monster.html ?)
Edited 2012-06-14 09:59 UTC