Darren GrahamCheck in/Check out is not the same as major/minor versions. Check in/out is simply whether a file is locked by a particular user so no one else can edit it. It can be used regardless of the versioning settings - even with no versioning at all. (NOT recommended)
Major/minor versions is more akin to publishing. Every version is saved as a dot or minor version, also called a draft version. Under versioning settings you can limit who is allowed to see these draft/minor versions. Once you have finalized the document, you can then go in and publish a new, major version that will be visible to everyone.
I would not expect the ability to bulk check in documents to affect the publishing of major versions.
Check in/out and major/minor versions can be used separately or together. If you use them together, then yes, you would need to check in a draft version before publishing it.