

Chrome: Playing the browser game for keeps - novascorpio
http://saffer.posterous.com/playing-the-browser-game-for-keeps

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cryptoz
It's not like Google advertises the Chrome version number, though. In fact,
they seem to try to hide which version you're on, so I don't think that this
is a marketing gimmick at all. Chrome's release schedule has a lot more to do
with the changing nature of user software and the Internet - version numbers
shouldn't matter, all users should aim to run the latest version, and updates
should come quickly.

These are all admirable goals and Chrome's versioning is just a side effect of
newer software development methods. Chrome is perhaps on track to win the
browser wars because it's the best browser and gets new features the fastest;
IE's release cycle is still humiliatingly slow.

~~~
runn1ng
I, personally, consider myself more "tech" person - and I don't have the
slightest clue which Chrome version I am using. If you said the newest Chrome
is Chrome 7, I would have to agree.

One part is, I guess, the seamless upgrading (when I use Firefox, I usually
click on "upgrade next time", because I am always doing something TOTALLY
important that can't wait). Other part is that the extensions don't break
every new version and the UI looks completely the same (unlike for, let's say,
Opera, which changes UI all the time). I don't know what browser version am I
using, and I don't care.

Really, I hope this will become standard in OS, too.

~~~
aboodman
As of this writing, the "newest" chrome is either 12, 13, or 14, depending on
which stability channel you're on.

Woo!

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weavejester
The author is missing the point. Chrome does not market its version number,
and transparently updates itself in the background. I'd imagine the vast
majority of Chrome users have no idea what major version their browser is on -
I sure didn't until I took a look.

Unlike previous number races, Chrome's rapidly increasing version numbers do
not indicate a will to impress consumers with high values. Instead, Chrome
takes a page from web applications, and makes the version number irrelevant to
the vast majority of its users.

Firefox seems to be trying to do the same, but IMO it's putting the cart
before the horse. It should improve its update mechanism until version numbers
do not matter, and _then_ update the major version as often as it wants to.

~~~
roc
> _"users have no idea what major version their browser is on"_

To be fair, I'm pretty sure this is true of every browser. And most software
in general.

Marketing people like having a number. Developers like having a number. They
like it for different reasons and have different goals for it. But users have
never really known or cared.

~~~
v21
I use Chrome, and this is the first time I have been ignorant of what version
number my browser is on. So yes, most users don't know or care. But now, even
techy users don't know or care. It really is a step change.

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numlocked
This was actually the entire purpose of Chrome - to push forward the state of
the art in browsers. When Chrome was released, Google made it clear that they
didn't care per se whether people used Chrome. What they cared about was
getting more people using better browsers by forcing the browser market to
move at a faster pace. And it appears they have done exactly that. I'm very
impressed with the execution - they articulated this precise strategy in 2008
and we're now really seeing it work.

~~~
v21
Competition sure can be a wonderful thing, when it happens.

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carbonica
"This smells to me like an anti-trust move"

People really need to learn what anti-trust is and what it isn't. My goodness,
the label gets applied to _everything_.

~~~
InclinedPlane
"Anti-trust" is government action to break a "trust" or monopoly. The author
appears to be using the term incorrectly.

~~~
carbonica
I'm referring more to the fact that he suggests increasing a near-hidden
version number every 6 weeks to be potentially criminally anticompetitive.

~~~
InclinedPlane
Well yes, that too. I'm implying that he is not only ignorant of the proper
meaning but also even of the proper terminology.

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kefs
Relevant posts the OP seems to have missed...

<https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dg63dpc6_4d7vkk6ch>

[http://blog.chromium.org/2010/07/release-early-release-
often...](http://blog.chromium.org/2010/07/release-early-release-often.html)

[http://www.thechromesource.com/understanding-chromes-six-
wee...](http://www.thechromesource.com/understanding-chromes-six-week-release-
cycle/)

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dochtman
Yeah, because Linus deciding to name 2.6.43 3.0 is _clearly_ inspired by
Google Chrome.

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meow
Umm.. anti-trust ? shouldn't we be glad that things are moving faster now...

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novascorpio
I think a lot of these comments are interesting. Perhaps chrome's versioning
is not made apparent to the user, but I'm sure all of their competitors know
what is going on.

Regarding anti-trust: Anti-trust laws are laws that are intended to prevent
monopolistic measures. I posit in the article that by controlling both the
client (chrome) and server (Google Docs, in addition to GMail, Google Search,
et al) that Google is in a unique position to perform monopolistic actions.
I'm not the only one that thinks Google may be doing something nefarious
either - [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/06/ftc-
launchin...](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/06/ftc-launching-
antitrust-probe-over-google-search-ad-businesses.ars) .

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rawatson
I always thought x.y.z version strings (like Firefox 3.6.3, or similar)
contained a bit of extra information about how development occurs which is
often ignored.

When z is increased, that is the developers way of saying that "this is the
least dramatic update we will make available to end users". Alternatively, an
increment of a is a sign that "this is the most dramatic alteration in
functionality we will make".

I think that part of the trend toward higher version numbers isn't just about
having nice big numbers, but rather a reflection of changes in development
methodology. Whether you attribute it to DVCSs or simple changes in developer
culture, it seems clear that the "biggest possible" update has significantly
shrunk in size lately.

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InclinedPlane
Sigh, not this BS again.

Look, google doesn't advertise version number revs, and updates happen
invisibly behind the scenes. Figuring out the chrome version number takes
effort, as there is no rebranding on a major version number bump. Chrome uses
the major version number for engineering reasons and uses a continuous
deployment method. Certainly other developers may make a bigger deal of major
version revs (often tying them to a product updates requiring new purchases)
but that shouldn't affect anyone's judgment of chrome's versioning. They could
jump to version a million by now, nobody should care much.

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ChrisArchitect
it's really all about transcending the version number. Which Chrome has
basically succeeded in doing. Hats off to them too -- it makes for a much more
exciting development and innovation space

