[jollojou]

Even though Atwood refers to version numbers as (false) indicators of progress, he has an important point: the earlier you release, the sooner you'll be able to make crucial corrections.

If your product managers are clairvoyant you do not need short release cycles. The PMs just tell the developers what kind of features the market will value in, say, three years. The development team is then able to concentrate on building a feature-rich and consistent product without the pressure of producing something quickly and then testing it on the market.

In any other case, you probably benefit from releasing several major versions within a couple of years.