What's going on here?

So I've rebuilt my rear end and installed all new oem bearings and seals and I'm about to install the seal onto the left side diff case and I realized the seal honda sold me looks nothing like the one I took out. Now the Honda service manual says for 97-99 it used a different seal. When you go onto different websites they all give you the same part number for the corresponding years and all websites show a different part number for certain years just like honda said there is. What I took out was the one with the raised lip and no metal washer. I know it's the original seal because we've bought the bike brand new in 99 and the rear end has never been apart.
The one they sold me is the one with the metal washer built into it but it has the right part number for a 1999 on the packaging. The only difference in size is the depth and it is 2mm different. Has anyone else encountered this issue? Why the change in design?


Another question is why does the Honda service manual say press the pinion bearing onto the pinion shaft with the numbers facing out? The only reason i can think of is so you can read the bearing numbers without pulling the pinion shaft. The inner and outer races look the same on both sides but maybe I'm wrong.