Rapid Release Schedule

One thing I've noticed lately is a lot of software is releasing too frequently. Of course, a phrase like "too frequently" is subjective. There is a fine balance between not enough and too frequently.

The whole reason to release a new version of a product is to add new features/support and/or fix bugs in the program. So new versions of a product are a good thing. But there is a downside to releasing too frequently. The main problem is there is a "cost" associated with updating software. Every computer with that software installed needs to download and install the updated version. Sometimes this is automatic sometimes it's manual. If it's manual then a frequently release schedule means the user spends more time upgrading. Automatic is not a panacea either. Automatically updating apps can lead to problems without the users knowledge. Plus there is the problem of bandwidth. Every upgrade requires bandwidth to download and install. For each individual user this isn't a problem, but consider on a whole how much total Internet traffic is wasted on continuous updates.

Probably the biggest problem with frequent updates is in corporate use. Most larger corporations do NOT use automatic updates, they use automated tools to update the software in their enterprise. When you consider how many applications will be used in a large enterprise, and if those applications are on a frequent release schedule this creates a lot of work for the IT admins.

A good example of a "rapid release schedule" would be Mozilla Firefox. I think my only gripe with Firefox is it's release schedule. In the middle of 2011 Mozilla announced Firefox would switch to a rapid release schedule. From 2005 'til 2011 Firefox went from version 1.x to 4.x. In the second half of 2011, Firefox went from 4.x to 9.x. So in less than 6 months Mozilla went through more major release numbers than it did in the previous 6 years. And it's not just Firefox. Google Chrome and Adobe products are two more examples of software that releases too often.

Typically software version numbers are major then minor. Often times there are addition numbers for even smaller releases (like bug fixes). If you increase the major version of a product, this should indicate a MAJOR change in the product. Makes sense huh? Too bad software companies don't seem to grasp this.