LabVIEW Versioning Inconsistency?

[jvon20]

I recently upgraded LabVIEW from 2021 SP1 to 2021 SP1 f2 using the NI Package Manager.

In NI MAX under "My System":

 - The LabVIEW version is listed as LabVIEW 2021 SP1. Clicking on it shows version 21.0.1.

 - Whereas the installed LabVIEW Runtime is listed as LabVIEW Runtime 2021 SP1 f2. Clicking on it shows version 21.0.1.

In NI Package Manager:

 - The installed LabVIEW version is "2021 SP1 f2"

 - The installed LabVIEW Runtime version is "2021 SP1 f2"

Windows Start Menu:

 - The Start Menu name for the program is "NI LabVIEW 2021 SP1 (32-bit)"

 - In LabVIEW > Help > about LabVIEW... : 

 - 21.0.1f2 (32-bit)

My questions are:

 - Why isn't NI MAX showing the installed LabVIEW version as 2021 SP1 f2 like it does for the runtime?

 - Are patches (f1, f2, etc.) not supposed to change the LabVIEW version number? Going from LabVIEW 2020 to LabVIEW 2021 SP1 changed the version number to 21.0.1. Upgrading to the latest f2 patch did not change the version number, which seems strange to me.

[JÞB]

Patches are patches " oh, Cisco, we don't need no stinking patches."

A patch to LabVIEW IDE may or may not require a fix to the RTE ( it might just solve a small developer only fix) similarly,  a RTE patch may just change an optimization in the way LabVIEW code is executed.  

If some showstopper required a change to both the IDE and the RTE a "Critical Update" might be released.  NI has been pretty good about not needing to release one of those.

Service Packs seldom release new features but often tune new features after a wide audience launch ( e.g. changes to automatic wire routing in 2020 SP1)  These install both the IDE and RTE and roll up patches that have been released.

In any case you should read the documentation describing the release.  Guess why they name it "ReadMe."

[jvon20]

To rephrase my original post more succinctly:

• My actual installed LabVIEW IDE version is 2021 SP1 f2.
• NI MAX does not include the "f2" for the LabVIEW 2021 IDE version in its list of software installed to my system 
• NI MAX does include f-numbers for past versions of LabVIEW and also includes it for the RTE version.

[JÞB]

Use Help>>About to get the exact version (including build) from the splash screen