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Magento offers different releases under download section such as 2.0.x and 2.1.x or 2.2.x.

Many people say that use recent release of Magento but when I browse to Magento download page I see three types of recent releases first 2.0.x, second 2.1.x and third 2.2.x like currently it is ver 2.0.17, ver 2.2.1 and ver 2.1.10, only one difference which I know is ver 2.0.x can be used with PHP 5.6 or 7.0 but ver 2.1.x and 2.2.x only supports PHP 7.0, so now my questions are

If 2.1.x or 2.2.x is better then why 2.x is still in use and available under recent release?

What is actually mean by Magento 2, ver 2.x or 2.1.x or 2.2.x? Is this mean that there are 4 types of Magento releases M1, M2, M21 and M22 LOL, Why they are offering such types of version? Because normally single version is publicly offered and rest are considered as outdated but they are offering 3 types of versions at the same time under recent release. Moreover If we observe version 2.2.1 then 2.0.17 and 2.1.10 must be considered outdated but it looks like it is not. On this point I would like to share recent experience, my client complained me that I am not using recent Magento ver (2.0.10) because recent is 2.1.2 (at that time) and to be frank I was already confused with this.

What is the preferred ver to be used?

Thanks in advance :)

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  • Ok.. based on your question you just don't know what versions are. Here, read this : semver.org
    – drew7721
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:36
  • A software progresses with time and versions are released, that does not mean that you remove old versions.. You can still find versions of Windows 8 or 7 even if 10 is out. Hell, I can still find a version of Window 3.1 if I want. I say Windows, but Ubuntu does it too.. they have LTS versions but they also have Nightly versions.
    – drew7721
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:40
  • My confusion is when Magento offered M1 it always offered single type of version under release e.g 1.5, 1.5.1, 1.6, 1.7 etc and rest were in archive (and still they are) but when it comes to Magento 2, they are offering 3 types of versions at the same time.
    – Adnan
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:46
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    Yes, and thank them for that! I mean that was the worst way to release code updates ever! No one sane does that: Here is a .zip file, "Just extract it and hope for the best!" LOL!
    – drew7721
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:51
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    @Adnan seems that way. We've been trying to keep our clients at the newest release but it has caused hardships in regards to integrations in place. We just have to pass this time on to the client unfortunately.
    – Eirik
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:58

2 Answers 2

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You can find a list of all the changes for each release on the developer documentation site.

You can always check the Magento 2 GitHub repository if you want more information or if you want to know what improvements or fixes are worked on.

I encourage you to always start with the latest stable version if possible and update to the newest version as often as possible.

Each release contains multiple security fixes and enhanced performances (or at least they should).

If you don't know how versions work or what they mean read : Semantic Versioning 2.0.0

The Magento 2 community is very active, new code and pull-requests are made every day.

To get information on a specific release just use the left navigation and make sure to check the proper version :

  • Magento Open Source (formerly CE)
  • Commerce (formerly EE)
  • Commerce Cloud (formally ECE)

enter image description here

To see the major changes in each version make sure to check the Highlights of each release.

Cheers!

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  • Thanks, I have updated my question with more elaboration, will you please review.
    – Adnan
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:12
  • Same thing.. all the releases are on those pages. Just browse trough the left navigation. Make sure you browse the correct release (EE, CE, Cloud). I've updated my answer with more detail on how to find release notes for each version.
    – drew7721
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:19
  • Thanks again, yes I know this and reviewed these docs but I didn't find the answer of my question, which one is good? why they are offering different type of versions? is this mean that there are 4 types of Magento releases M1, M2, M21 and M22?
    – Adnan
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:34
  • I will put in bold the answer to which one to use...
    – drew7721
    Nov 17, 2017 at 22:43
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Magento tries following SemVer policy. It allows to add new features and doesn't break existing functionality. This policy similar, for example, to PHP releases, each new release has some improvements or features and old releases has only bug fixes.

According to your question:

  • 2.0.x - next releases will have only security bug fixes.
  • 2.1.x - next releases will have important bug fixes without breaking changes.
  • 2.2.x - next releases will have bug fixes without breaking changes, small improvements, no new features.
  • 2.3 - release will have new features, like new framework for functional tests, bug fixes, and other changes which in some cases will be with breaking changes.

So lets assume if I am facing any bug in ver 2.0.10 then I should look forward for ver 2.0.11 for possible bug fix, not 2.1.x or 2.2.x, right?

Sometimes impossible to fix a bug in the backward compatible way, that's why some fixes are present in 2.2.x or 2.1.x releases but are absent in 2.0.x. Another case, some bug from a customer or merchant perspective is not implemented from Magento side, that's why such improvement might be only in 2.2.x but not it 2.1.x and older.

More information about Magento versioning.

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  • Make sense, your answer cleared some conflicts from my mind :) So what is your suggestion? Which version shall be used M2, 2.1 or 2.2?
    – Adnan
    Nov 21, 2017 at 0:16
  • @Adnan, I would recommend always using the latest version. But, for "minor" releases, like 2.1.0, 2.2.0, etc. better to use the next patch release like 2.1.1, 2.2.1, etc. The latest releases have more improvements and more bug fixes. Now, the 2.1.x and 2.2.x patch releases have a lot of bug fixes, but 2.2.x also has some improvements.
    – joni jones
    Nov 21, 2017 at 8:34
  • This is partially true. The link you provided is for Magento module versioning only. Magento sticks with number 2 for marketing purposes. Sometimes a minor update introduces a new API structure or backward incompatible changes.
    – MTP
    Jun 28 at 5:31

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