[klodolph]

The reason why both Microsoft and Apple are doing this is because there is too much software in the wild which will break if it detects a major version bump. So, that is why both are doing it, and that is why it is the right decision.

[radlad]

The right decision may still be a complex mess.

[GekkePrutser]

Exactly, and what I'm trying to point out is, is this really worth it when the only advantage of having the "11.0" is just marketing?

[zeroimpl]

Marketable version numbers are quite useful. If somebody says they are running 10.12.3, the first thing I do is check which version I am running to see how that compares. On the other hand, if somebody says they are running iOS 12.1.2, I immediately know that is a patch of the preceding year's major version.

The reason is that Apple actually applies marketing to their iOS version numbers, but doesn't do the same for macOS, because incrementing the minor version isn't marketable. Their crack marketing team does come up with funny names for macOS releases, but few people remember the mapping between those and the actual version numbers.

[coldtea]

Yes. The alternative is how we have legacy things with no meaning 30 years down the line...