major release

major release

(programming)A release of a piece of software which is notmerely a revision or a bug fix release but which containssubstantial changes (e.g., an overhaul of the interface,change in compatibility).

Traditionally, major releases are numbered as X.0; forexample, WordPerfect 6.0 is a major release, significantlydifferent from any previous version; whereas WordPerfect 6.1has only minor changes, and is, thus, only a revision.

See also major delivery.