Android OS Naming Patterns

[wturnerharris1]

Does anyone know if google has a stable release cycle? We know it's always codenamed something sweet, and so far alphabetically. Version numbers and release dates seem random.

We all know that Apple codenames its newest PC operating system based off of giant felines, then numerically with a (POINT) number, ie. 10.1, 10.2 10.3, etc. They never have a definitive release schedule.

Then Ubuntu releases its newest PC operating system code-naming them from animals, alphabetically, then numerically 9.04, 9.10, 10.04, 10.10, etc. They release it every 6 months like clockwork. They have the best release, code-naming conventions, and number versioning I've ever seen!

 

[mr.saving]

Ubuntu releases like that because they don't care what flaws are present at release. They get X feature(s) added then release.

 

[Kyle Gibb]

As with anything Google, it's done when it's done. Supposedly Google is going to try to switch to yearly or semi-yearly (aka 2x per year) update cycles.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

As with anything Google, it's done when it's done. Supposedly Google is going to try to switch to yearly or semi-yearly (aka 2x per year) update cycles.

Yep, reportedly it will be semi yearly for a this year and maybe next and after that yearly. If they are smart it wont be at the same time as the iOS updates but we shall see. Google likes to do things their own way and in their own time.

We are reasonably sure the next release will be called Gingerbread and numbered 3.0 but that could be wrong and we get 2.3 or 2.5 instead. We wont know until a clot closer to the release.

 

[wturnerharris1]

Ubuntu releases like that because they don't care what flaws are present at release. They get X feature(s) added then release.

I highly doubt that. Every release I've ever tested (the day it came out) was stable. There are always flaws, which no one can anticipate. But that's why we have communities to test them, don't we?

 

[wturnerharris1]

Yep, reportedly it will be semi yearly for a this year and maybe next and after that yearly. If they are smart it wont be at the same time as the iOS updates but we shall see. Google likes to do things their own way and in their own time.

We are reasonably sure the next release will be called Gingerbread and numbered 3.0 but that could be wrong and we get 2.3 or 2.5 instead. We wont know until a clot closer to the release.

This makes sense. Thank you.

I hope they don't turn the way of Apple and release things according to the fuhrer. Regular updates are good, even if it's not a major update. And I think naming conventions for release codenames are even cooler. Even if internally they are numbering things 2.200, 2.201, 2.202, etc, the major releases can follow with a full decimal of 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, etc.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

This makes sense. Thank you.

I hope they don't turn the way of Apple and release things according to the fuhrer. Regular updates are good, even if it's not a major update. And I think naming conventions for release codenames are even cooler. Even if internally they are numbering things 2.200, 2.201, 2.202, etc, the major releases can follow with a full decimal of 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, etc.

The reason Apple does things they way they do is because they like to "WOW" the customers and their OS versions are tied to hardware upgrades. You will notice that their point releases are almost exclusively limited to bug fixes and minor tweaks.

Google does not worry about hardware, with the exception of the Nexus and the two previous Dev phones they have never really worried about the hardware, They focus on the software and let the OEM's deal with the hardware. This has been good for software development (enabling them to come out with an OS that is technically -- I am not talking aesthetics here, just what it can do -- superior to Apples in half the time it took them to do it). But it has also left a mess where hardware is concerned.

Weather you call it fragmentation or legacy -- I call it both; Legacy = Older phones not upgraded; Fragmentation = Newer phones released with old versions of Android and not upgraded within short order (or in some cases not at all) -- Android is not as unified as it could/should be. The only way to fix that is to reduce the amount of updates so that hardware manufacturers can catch up and have time to upgrade the software on their devices before yet another version comes out.

Froyo is out now and should be on the majority of phones by the end of the year. Gingerbread will be released to developers the last quarter of this year but I don't see it being on many actual phones till the beginning of next year.

Honeycomb (the rumored version for the next version of Android) will be sometime next year. I'm guessing it will be released mid year and then on phones the second half of the year. Apple releases their phones/OS updates the end of June every year, if Google is smart, when they go to an annual release either next year or the year after they will do it later in the year (Aug or Sept) so they can always one up Apple

I agree that they should keep the point release version method. If Gingerbread is a significant upgrade it can be 2.5 or 3.0, if it is mainly enhancements then 2.3 and Honeycomb the same way.

 

[dj2big]

What about Android toast Its suppose to be a android hybrid running windows apps to be released next summer

 

[SeeK]

I highly doubt that. Every release I've ever tested (the day it came out) was stable. There are always flaws, which no one can anticipate. But that's why we have communities to test them, don't we?

Not quite the case with Google, as they test everything in their labs. Letting the end-users act as guinea pigs isn't the way to go with something as vital as mobile phones. A few nerds in a cellar running the latest Ubuntu, sure, but there just can't be flaws in a new Android release and Google has to make sure of that, not us.