Version numbers

symphonix

symphonix

Scratch & Sniff Committee
Recently, I had a helpdesk call that went something like this...
"Hi, what can I help you with?"
"Oh, hi, I was wanting to install ;) and the box says it requires Lotus Notes 5.0.3 or higher."
"Right."
"Well, I have Notes 5.0.11, where can I get an upgrade?"
"Oh. I see. Well, 5.0.11 is actually higher than 5.0.3."
"It is?" :confused:
"Yes."
"How do they figure that?" :confused:

Which brings me to my look at one of the IT industry's more bizarre trends: version numbering schemes in contravention of the Being @#$%@ Stupid Act of 1997 (Amendment 12)

Chief amongst the offenders is Microsoft, who have a system that goes: 1, 2, 3, 3.1, 3.11 for Workgroups, 95, 98, NT, ME, CE, 2000, XP, 2003 Server ...
They then supplement these with security patches labelled MS03-0026 (my favourite) and MS03-0007, etc.
I've fielded at least a dozen calls from people who have been told to install Office XP on Windows 2000 and are convinced it won't work, and with well thought out logic that fails to take into account the mind-warping surrealism favoured by marketing managers at M$.

Apple, always willing to think different, have toyed with such foolish ideas when they decided - after 20 years of one number following another - to go to roman numerals. And then to large cats. We could let them off with a warning for that one, since they at least stuck to the numbering system.
 
Well, if you look at the box, you'll see that it is actually Maci OS X 10.2 Jaguar. The build is simply a moniker they seem to favor. I think they added the X to show that this is completely new and different, and also based on UNIX.

I'll never understand how Microsoft names their OS's. They go from 3.1 to 95, to 98, to ME, to XP, to Longhorn. Bleat!
 
Longhorn is just the internal nickname AFAIK, just like Jaguar and Panther. It will probably be marketed differently, like "Windows 007" :D
 
Originally posted by Cat
Longhorn is just the internal nickname AFAIK, just like Jaguar and Panther. It will probably be marketed differently, like "Windows 007" :D
Click to expand...
Hopefully it won't self destruct when I use it ;)
 
It wouldn't suprise me if they were working on a way to do that.

"We have detected an unauthorized installation of 007. This computer will self destruct in 10 seconds...."

You know, what I've been wondering about OS X is that the X stands for 10... so why are they actually labeling it Mac OS X 10.x ?
 
Because OS X is a moniker just like Jaguar, but these monikers are official, and part of the name.
Apple didn't want to ruin the nomenclature it had going for so many years, but also wanted to distinguish OS X from the previous versions of the Finder, so they changed it a little.
At least I remember reading that in macworld about two years ago.
 
I think it is that, and to show how different it is: it's based on UNIX.

It's funny how you guys mix James Bond and Mission:Impossible. "Does. Win Does." (As in multiple female deer, not a form of "do.")
 
Originally posted by Cat
Then you're clearly not the "Man with the golden pun"! :D
Click to expand...
If I had a shoe and you were in a place I could throw it at you, I would throw said shoe at your head which does not exist.
 
*virtually gooeses*

??? :confused: That made no sense... maybe it's because it's almost 4 in the morning.

Is there a topic here anymore?
 
Topic? What is this "topic" you speak of?
Mac OS X sounds a lot cooler than Mac OS 10. But then again that all counts on how you read it. :D
 
i dont know anyone who reads it Mac OS X (the letter), but it does look a lot cooler than OS 10
 
But version 5.0.11 wouldnt be higher because of decimals, it would mean 5.0.1.1. Pretty dumb, but as long as i have the damn program, its all okay.
 
I say Mac Oh Ess Ex, because that's how it is spelled. Sure its a roman numeral. But when Steve Jobs invented the name, he probably thought of X, since it is one letter that is "Cool". So then people say X, and then people are like wow that sounds cool!
If Jobs wanted it to be OS 10, he probably would've done the plain, old, dumb number 10.
 
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