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What's In a Number?
by Aaron Smith on Monday, December 3 2007Thanks to Jeremy, the GW-Info list has been inundated with pokes and prods about the next version of Window-Eyes, along with a lot of speculation about past version features, what upgrades have cost in the past, and what sub-version numbers have indicated. While we have a complete version history listed on the Window-Eyes page, including upgrade prices, I thought I would take a minute to officially explain what the version numbers really, truly mean. Here goes: version numbers don't mean squat. Seriously. That's not to say that version numbers aren't useful. They do provide place markers for developers. When you know what changed between versions, it's easy to go back and test. When you find one version that has a problem, and a previous version that doesn't, you know where the problem lies. But if you want to know what a specific version of a piece of software does, read through the readme, find a changelog, or skim the manual. A version number, in itself, rarely tells you anything. In fact, version numbers are usually used as a marketing tool to express change. Their incremental nature suggests growth and positive movement, always climbing toward an infinite end where possibilities are immeasurable. How many times have you seen a piece of software decrement its version number? That would be a countdown to finality: a single version that did all that was claimed, nothing more, nothing less. No software manufacturer in their right mind would ever state that about their software because that's not how software works. Software has issues that need resolving, and features that need adding, and each time issues are resolved and features are added, you have more issues that need resolving and more features that need added. Software evolves, so version numbers increment. So what does a version number tell you? As I mentioned, nothing. What did Window-Eyes 4.5 have over 2.1? A butt-load, I can assure you. But even I don't know what without looking through documentation. I know that 5.5 had support for Excel when 5.0 did not. I know that 6.1 was the first version to support Windows Vista. But I only remember these things because they're recent. Ask me again in 10 years, and you'll just get a blank, silent stare, probably followed by a shrug, and an, "Uhhhhh..."
Version numbers are also used as a tool to compete for customers. Software XYZ might have more bells and whistles than Software ABC. But if Software XYZ’s version number is 1.0, and Software ABC’s version number is 10, who do you think is going to get more business? It’s unfortunate that people are swayed so easily without looking at the details, but that’s how the industry works at times.
We do our best to stay away from silly version number games, and for the most part, we do try to make some sense with our version numbers. 4.1 to 4.11 was minor, hence the small change in version number. But Windows Vista support, in my opinion, was huge, and it only got a .1 version increase. So what does that mean for Window-Eyes 7? We're jumping right from 6.1 to 7.0. No 6.11, no 6.2, no 6.21, no 6.5, but right to 7.0. That’s a significant jump. In fact, that big of a version change hasn’t happened in Window-Eyes since 1999. That means this version must have something huge, right? Right? RIGHT?The answer is….oh, look at the time. I've gotta run.
