4.8.0 was actually released in March 2013. GCC has been on a yearly major release schedule for several years now (since at least GCC 4.5.0 in 2010). This year

4.8.0 was actually released in March 2013. GCC has been on a yearly major release schedule for several years now (since at least GCC 4.5.0 in 2010). This year 4.9.0 will be about a month late.