That's because developers have written and still write incorrect software that relies on the external version number. It's also the reason Windows lies about it

That's because developers have written and still write incorrect software that relies on the external version number. It's also the reason Windows lies about its build number unless you add magic (read: not deterministic) GUIDs to your apps' manifest. Raymond Chen's blog[0] has tons of stories about this kind of bugs. [0]: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/