June 4, 2013
Apple has been on OS "Ten" for more than 12 years, while FireFox has gone from version 3 to version 22 in less than 2. So, it's a fair question to ask... Just what do Rumpus version numbers signify?
Like many companies, Maxum version numbers are broken up into 3 segments: a major release, minor release, and maintenance release. Version 7.2.12, therefore is major version 7, minor version 2, maintenance update 12. The difference between major and minor releases isn't necessarily about features and functionality, though.
Major releases indicate a significant change in the Rumpus core server engine. From version 3 to version 4, for example, Rumpus went from a "Carbon-based" OS X application to a native, Cocoa application. The update from version 6 to version 7 meant an entirely new secure services engine that allowed us to do away with SSL tunneling to support HTTPS and FTPS. In both of these examples, there really isn't any single major feature update that end users might notice (other than perhaps improved performance and a generally more efficient server).
A major release indicates big changes in the core functioning of the server, but it's usually accompanied by significant feature updates, too.
The word "minor" isn't really appropriate in the case of Rumpus. "Minor" updates usually offer every bit as much functional improvement as "major" releases, if not more. The key difference is that in a minor release, we take what is a fundamentally sound server engine and focus on adding new features or streamlining what we have. In functional terms, the updates from version 7.0 to 7.1 to 7.2 were just as significant in feature updates as was the change from 6.2. to 7.0.
Maintenance releases are updates that primarily address bugs or minor improvements to existing features. Maintenance releases rarely include any changes to the Rumpus server administration application, although we have been known to sneak minor new features into maintenance updates. Maintenance releases come out as needed, although we try to never introduce updates, even minor updates, more than every 6 weeks or so (and ideally longer).