Clarification on versioning practices of preview packages

[walliski]

As the discussions do not seem to get a lot of attention overall, moving this here, as it would be quite important to know what's happening with the versions.

Discussed in #4444

^{Originally posted by walliski April 22, 2024}
I tried looking for release notes etc, but could not really find anything on this.

In versions before 3.38 we got a -preview package together with the normal release. As I have understood it that preview package used to be the same as the normal one, but also contain the Preview features. Not sure if I have understood this part wrong?

After 3.38, it seems like the preview packages are now released at random times, before the real version. Does this also mean that the preview packages are now treated as "beta" packages, where also other functionality than the preview features should be considered unstable, or is the release cadence of the old "-preview" packages just detached from the GA ones now?

[FabianMeiswinkel]

Starting with 3.38.0 and 3.39.0-preview we release the preview package with a +1 minor version. Why? It makes it easier to move from normal to preview version - because now the preview version looks like an "upgrade". Also exposes better that when you move "back" from preview to normal version a few public APIs might be missing.

So 3.38.0 and 3.39.0-preview align as well as 3.39.0 and 3.40.0-preview etc.