throwaway mini-rant

Nov 02, 2007 13:27

What is it about modern consumer operating systems that has cast the perfectly useful idea of "version number" into disfavor?

I mean, it's bad enough that Windows gave it up after Y2K ... ME, XP, and now Vista (née Longhorn, aka Aero).

... But Apple? Okay, seriously, guys: Enough is enough. Yes, the cat thing was cute. But it's overstayed ( Read more... )

wordplay, technology

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Comments 37

makuus November 2 2007, 21:53:36 UTC
My understanding, having previously worked for a software company, is that increasingly high version numbers denotes 'age' (and not so much 'product maturity') in the mind of the end-user. Dropping the version number kind of does the same thing marketing-wise as doing facial botox -- the about dialog, like the driver's license, still shows the right age, but the face is a little prettier.

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gchpaco November 3 2007, 05:52:43 UTC
You'd think that, but there was a big kurfuffle on Bugtraq a few years back about Apple being slow about making security releases for 10.3.x AKA Panther. Some folks just don't want to upgrade.

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packbat November 3 2007, 12:53:33 UTC
I gotta back up gchpaco here - I'm still running 10.3, not being willing to fork over $150 just to make my four-year-old computer run even slower.

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solanth November 3 2007, 00:27:16 UTC
10.16: "Bugger it, we'll claw your eyes out like a cat and then you won't be able to read our lack of a new name."

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yoje November 3 2007, 00:49:00 UTC
I'm waiting for OS X 10.10.10. That'll be awesome. >.> And in case you were curious, I learned to stop asking what OS X version someone is running when I kept getting answers like "Um... 10.3... I think... was that Simba?"

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roaminrob November 3 2007, 01:15:51 UTC
At least Mac OS X makes its version information friggin' accessible. In all versions: Apple menu -> About This Mac.

Windows?

T.S.: "Do you know what version of Windows you're running?"
Customer: "Uhhh... I think it's Word Explorer 5."
T.S.: "Right. OK, click on the 'Start' menu in the lower left-hand corner, and ..."
Customer: "I don't see 'Start'."
T.S.: "Uh, OK. You must be running Vista then."
Customer: "OH WAIT! There it is, the lower left-hand corner."
T.S.: *headdesk headdesk headdesk*

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baxil November 3 2007, 01:21:59 UTC
"Alright, now click on 'Help and Support.' ... No? ... Okay, well let's get it out of the Control Panel then. Go back to the Start menu, and click on 'Control Panel'. ... You don't have Control Panel? Do you have 'Settings'? .... Okay then! That rules out almost everything. Click on 'My Computer' on the desktop ... nothing? Alright, maybe you renamed it. Is there something with a little picture of a computer screen? Great. Okay, click on that. Do you see 'Control Panel' there? Nifty! That narrows it down to Windows 95 or Windows 98, and we haven't even gotten to where I want to go yet!"

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roaminrob November 3 2007, 01:25:03 UTC
But wait! If you order now, there's more! We'll also include, at no additional charge:

T.S.: "OK, so let's look at your dialup connections. Click on 'Connect To'..."
Customer: "Don't see 'Connect To'."
T.S.: "Right. Click on Control Panel then. Now, in the top left corner, does it say 'Switch to Classic View', or does it say 'Switch to Category View'?"
Customer: "You used too many words there."

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baxil November 3 2007, 01:28:41 UTC
This is why I just ask, "So, at the top, does it say 'pick a category', or does it just give you a whole bunch of little individual icons?"

Unfortunately, this occasionally backfires:

T.S.: (question printed above)
Customer: "A whole bunch of individual little icons."
T.S.: "Alright, then find the one that says 'Network Connections.'"
Customer: "I don't see that. Did you mean 'Network and Internet Connections'?" [which is only in Category View]
T.S.: "Um, yes." *headdesk*

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aeto November 3 2007, 01:23:54 UTC
Actually, most people I encounter actually do use the animal names, in and outside the furry community.

On the other hand, many of those people are software engineers, very used to referring to projects by code names.

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