The bug has sparked some rather intense discussion - more than you might expect for something as seemingly minor as hiding the version number on the About Firefox window. As Dotzler states, it's just another step in a process that is already 'well under way.' Over on Bugzilla, the always outspoken Asa Dotzler has posted Bug 678775 (Opens in a new window) to get the ball rolling. Mozilla, though, wants to make sure that version numbers are buried deep with its browser where only developers, enthusiasts, and sniffing code can call them up. Both Chrome and Firefox now offer stable, beta, and bleeding-edge versions to suit a user's wants.

Rather than cling to traditional versioning ideas, companies are now pushing channels - constantly updated snapshots of the different development stages of a program. But that's a tricky proposition when users have been raised on slowly-climbing digits trailing the names of their favorite apps. One side effect of a rapid release schedule is skyrocketing version numbers, something both Google and Mozilla want users to ignore. The goal was to make Firefox more adaptable and to keep pace - though not with Chrome specifically, but rather with the rapidly-evolving web. A great collective gasp issued from tuned-in Firefox fans when Mozilla announced that it was switching to a Chrome-like release schedule for its browser.

Firefox latest version number