Enablers were considered to be the lesser of the two evils when System 7.1 came out...
We have seen double decimal point upgrades both in the past and in the present. This made it tricky for people buying software since some developers would require, say, System 6.0.5 as a minimum. This problem actually still exists today although it's easier to work around since the system can be updated from the internet within a few minutes. However, double decimal points are not mathematically correct and some double decimal releases get downright ugly in naming (OS X 10.4.10 comes to mind).
Using enablers and a "reference release" such as System 7.1 gives developers something to aim for when designing software. I'm sure we can all remember looking at products that needed System 7.1, not 7.0.6 as a minimum, and feeling good about having that system. It also gave software engineers higher standards when designing software, as illustrated below:
The Double Decimal Thought: "Oh well, let's release it with some bugs. We can always patch it next Thursday and release it as a double-decimal upgrade."
The Reference Release Thought: "We have to get our act together and debug this software now. If not we'll have a buggy release on the market for two years, and we know about the consequences of that because we remember Word 3.0."
The drawback to 7.1-type releases, as mentioned, is the need for an enabler on a startup disk. This was a huge problem for Performa owners who often did not get system disks with their machine.
Both have their pros and cons. However, nothing could be as ridiculous as coming out with a new edition of a product after its successor has been released only to change many aspects of it while keeping the name. (I'm referring to Windows 98 Second Edition here, although I will admit that I have found 982E to be quite stable and usable).
We have seen double decimal point upgrades both in the past and in the present. This made it tricky for people buying software since some developers would require, say, System 6.0.5 as a minimum. This problem actually still exists today although it's easier to work around since the system can be updated from the internet within a few minutes. However, double decimal points are not mathematically correct and some double decimal releases get downright ugly in naming (OS X 10.4.10 comes to mind).
Using enablers and a "reference release" such as System 7.1 gives developers something to aim for when designing software. I'm sure we can all remember looking at products that needed System 7.1, not 7.0.6 as a minimum, and feeling good about having that system. It also gave software engineers higher standards when designing software, as illustrated below:
The Double Decimal Thought: "Oh well, let's release it with some bugs. We can always patch it next Thursday and release it as a double-decimal upgrade."
The Reference Release Thought: "We have to get our act together and debug this software now. If not we'll have a buggy release on the market for two years, and we know about the consequences of that because we remember Word 3.0."
The drawback to 7.1-type releases, as mentioned, is the need for an enabler on a startup disk. This was a huge problem for Performa owners who often did not get system disks with their machine.
Both have their pros and cons. However, nothing could be as ridiculous as coming out with a new edition of a product after its successor has been released only to change many aspects of it while keeping the name. (I'm referring to Windows 98 Second Edition here, although I will admit that I have found 982E to be quite stable and usable).