Literally the same reason why Ford sells 150s and 250s and Volvo sells 70s and 90s: They are different products and don’t base the version numbers on their competitor.
Actually, Firefox version numbers were totally independent for most of their history, but Mozilla recently adjusted them to roughly align with Chromium versions to reduce confusion for developers.
2004 - Firefox 1.0, no Chrome yet
2010 - Firefox 4.0, Chrome around version 8
2011 - Firefox switches to rapid releases
2020 - Firefox and Chrome both around version 85, just by coincidence
2024 - Firefox jumps from 124 to 126 to align with Chrome 126
2025 - Firefox 126+, Chrome 126+, version numbers now track similarly
All the downvotes here kinda got me legit angry. Incurious fools and jokers.
It’s not a complete answer, but it’s partially because the development of Chrome and Firefox have always been highly competitive resulting in them both adopting rapid release cycles around the same time in the early 2010’s.
I haven’t read too much into the topic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was as much a marketing decision as well as a developer one. Similar to how Microsoft didn’t want to release an XBox 2 in competition with a PlayStation 3.
I haven’t read too much into the topic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was as much a marketing decision as well as a developer one.
Version numbering has no implications on development. Firefox released just as frequently before, just that they didn’t increase the major version that often.
Why is Firefox 4 or 3 versions ahead of Chromium versions (Edge, Chrome)?
Because it’s a completely separate codebase that is not chrome based
Literally the same reason why Ford sells 150s and 250s and Volvo sells 70s and 90s: They are different products and don’t base the version numbers on their competitor.
Actually, Firefox version numbers were totally independent for most of their history, but Mozilla recently adjusted them to roughly align with Chromium versions to reduce confusion for developers.
2004 - Firefox 1.0, no Chrome yet 2010 - Firefox 4.0, Chrome around version 8 2011 - Firefox switches to rapid releases 2020 - Firefox and Chrome both around version 85, just by coincidence 2024 - Firefox jumps from 124 to 126 to align with Chrome 126 2025 - Firefox 126+, Chrome 126+, version numbers now track similarly
Probably more like AMD naming processors XP, moving to 3 digits to match Intel, and stuffing AI into the model name.
Hell, even the Linux kernel is not immune
https://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1107.2/01843.html
deleted by creator
Why are the buses different colours?
Not everything is Chrome just yet. We still have Gecko and Webkit holding on.
Why is Chrome 121 versions ahead of Android?
Windows 11 and OSX are so outdated
All the downvotes here kinda got me legit angry. Incurious fools and jokers.
It’s not a complete answer, but it’s partially because the development of Chrome and Firefox have always been highly competitive resulting in them both adopting rapid release cycles around the same time in the early 2010’s.
I haven’t read too much into the topic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was as much a marketing decision as well as a developer one. Similar to how Microsoft didn’t want to release an XBox 2 in competition with a PlayStation 3.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox_version_history https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Chrome#Development
These are just the Wikipedia links, but there is interesting discussion of development history to be had, here.
Version numbering has no implications on development. Firefox released just as frequently before, just that they didn’t increase the major version that often.