Firefox version shenanigans

The recent rapid increase in the major version number of Firefox this year (2011) is annoyingly disruptive. I maintain the Standard-Sitemap Protocol Firefox extension, and it needs to declare which versions of Firefox it is compatible with. I can conveniently declare it compatible with a family of versions, e.g., 8.*, so it remains compatible if there are just minor implementation improvements, or even API additions. If there are API changes or removals, the extension potentially will no longer be compatible, so I'd expect the major version number to increase, forcing me (happily) to check compatibility before releasing a new version of the extension.

But have the last few major increments really been API changes? I haven't had to make any changes to the extension, only to its compatibility declaration. So it seems more like they are trying to match the version numbers of Internet Explorer, as if a high number is a badge of honour. It's not! It is more like an indication of how long they've taken to get something right.

Didn't they do something like this before with the combined email/web client? They jumped from 4 to 7, just to match IE7, if I remember correctly.

I've also heard talk recently that they wanted to hide version numbers from the typical user, as other browsers seem to be doing. It's considered more detail than the user should particularly care for. As an extension maintainer, keeping the version number tucked away, only to be seen by developers, would suit me fine. However, this can't be their aim if they're ramping up the major version number so often.