Apple might change OS naming convention to reflect year of release

[Retro]

Looks like Apple's operating system naming convention is changing to a yearly based one as apparently it will be less confusing. This is going in the opposite direction that Microsoft did. They went from Windows 95, 98, 2000 to XP, Vista, 8, 8.1, 10 and now 11.

Personally, I'm ok with either naming convention if done from the start, but since the current one has been used for so long, I'd rather it stayed that way as otherwise there's quite a big disconnect between old and new naming conventions which I'm not keen on. What do you think?

Apple is planning to make a major change to the naming scheme for its entire line of software updates, starting as early as next month. A new report claims that Apple will rename iOS 19 to iOS 26 as part of its new year-based naming strategy, and the change will be implemented for all software updates. What this means is that the next big update will not be called iOS 19; instead, the company will call it iOS 26, making it less confusing for the public as well as the developers.

iOS 19 Will Be Renamed To iOS 26 Alongside Other Updates, As Part Of Apple's New Year-Based Naming Strategy, Making It Less Confusing For Customers And Developers

A report claims that iOS 19 will be renamed to iOS 26 alongside additional updates to streamline the naming scheme and make it less confusing.

wccftech.com

 

[Hitcore]

They went from Windows 95, 98, 2000 to XP, Vista, 8, 8.1, 10 and now 11.

To be fair, Microsoft did start out with Windows 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 3.1. So in that perspective, even though 95, 98, and 2000 were revolutionary operating systems for their time that made huge impacts, in the grander naming scheme of things the year-named operating systems represent only a small share, and thus Microsoft has actually been more consistent than you give them credit for. With XP and Vista being the odd ones out either way, of course, naming wise.

As for Apple: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The real winner here are certain Linux distros, such as Ubuntu, that incorporated years (and months even) in their version numbers right from the beginning, all the way up 'till now, without interruption. They do also use names, but they are more like nicknames. Knowing the Ubuntu community they wouldn't change their version numbering scheme any time soon.

 

[Retro]

Yeah, I knew that about the original Windows versions, but it was more convenient just to leave it out, lol.

I prefer the consistency of Linux naming: pick one and just stick to it, or it just breaks the flow.