Major upgrade vs Minor upgrade version Numbers

Question

We have an application, in which we have series of releases. The current version of the application in production was V2.1

Now we have a set of new UI Screens to be added and related changes to the application. We are planning to release these changes as V3.0.

Do we need to go with Major Upgrade or Minor Upgrade? If we go with Major Upgrade, do we need to reinstall the application? or change the version to 2.2 and go with Minor Upgrade?

Please suggest me some best way to go about with these installers.

Note: We are using Install Shield Premium for building the installer.

Answer 1

If the only changes you are making are to the UI of your installation wizard, there is no fundamental reason to prefer either a minor or a major upgrade over the other. Typically the choice is driven by the changes you are making to the application itself, or the files that comprise it.

A Minor Upgrade will support first-time installations, as well as provide what should be a shorter update for the upgrade experience. A Major Upgrade will uninstall what's currently there before installing the new version. Either can be done with either sets of version numbers - the difference depends primarily on whether you change your ProductCode.

See Patching and Upgrades for details. Some people prefer creating Major Upgrades because they are easier to reason about.