Usage of "flavour" vs. "version"

Question

Software systems undergo versioning when changes are made to them. E.g.: "Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows RT etc. are some popular versions of the Windows Operating System."

Similarly, some software also comes in different flavours. E.g.: "BOSS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint are some popular flavours of Linux."

I fail to understand whether version and flavor of a software mean the same thing, and can be used interchangeably. Or are there some not-so-subtle differences?

Answer 1

Generally version can apply to any variety of something. With high tech products that undergo rapid improvement, it tend to refer to a sequential progression (Windows 8 being a later, more modern, version of Windows than Windows XP). They often have a numerical indication of their place in this sequence, but recently many marketing departments have favoured separating the brand under which something is sold from the numbering system used in developing it (this has resulted in the ironic situation where "Windows 7" is the brand name of what is internally "Windows 6.1" and "Windows 8" the brand name for "Windows 6.2).

Because version has this specific meaning in terms of high tech products, it can be confusing if you try to use version in the more general sense. For that reason flavour was first used as a slang word for this sense, metaphorically comparing to foods like ice-cream and confectionery which come in a variety of different flavours.

It's quite deliberately not strongly defined. For example, it might not just cover different distributions of Linux (distros as a common slang contraction), but even different options for the same version of the same distribution might be called a flavour.

Answer 2

You have different versions when the items are iterations of the same product, intended to replace the earlier one. e.g. Firefox 11, 12, 13 etc.

You have different flavours when the software shares a common base but diverges in some way, and they can be contemporaries. Each flavour can have its own versions.

Answer 3

While they are similar, the two terms are not always synonymous:

• In the context of operating systems, version is primarily used as a technical term. Flavour is always used informally or as market-speak.
• Version is sometimes also used loosely in the same manner as flavour. However, flavour is never used technically. Personally, I don't hear flavour used at all.
• Version can be very specific. You can use it to denote each of "Windows XP", "Windows XP Professional", "Windows XP-64", "Windows XP SP2", or even a specific build number like "Windows NT 5.1.2600". Flavour, on the other hand, does not extend to service packs, build numbers, and so on.

With Linux, distro (distribution) is far more common than flavour.