When will Joomla v1.6 be out and can I use it on a live website

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Created on Wednesday, 15 December 2010 00:00

On the 14th December 2010, Joomla! announced the immediate availability of Joomla 1.6 RC1. At the time of this announcement there were no high or medium issues in the Joomla! bug tracker. But what does this mean to you, the client?

 

UPDATE: Joomla! 1.6 General Availability Released

This new version of Joomla includes more power, more control, and more options than ever before. A huge round of applause muse go to the Joomla community & especially the JBS (Joomla Bug Squad) for the rebuilt from the ground up in much of the application.

Firstly, let me clarify what RC1 means

RC, standing for Release Candidate, is a version that is usually not finished or in its final form. The version may work & be fully functional, but it's not quite ready to offer to clients for their live websites. This type of release is one that is not fully tested. It does, however, have fewer glitches or bugs that must be addressed before going to market.

So what should you do?

Don't upgrade... never upgrade until a fully tested & reliable 'stable' version is released.
Please remember, this is not a just a minor upgrade of joomla (i.e. from v1.5.21 to v1.5.22) - this is a 'mighty overhaul' to a completely new version!

When stable, will you upgrade me to the new version?

There are lots of considerations to look at prior to deciding whether you should upgrade to a totally new version of Joomla!

• Why do I want to upgrade?
• Is there a very good reason to upgrade?
• Will my users need retraining on the new version?
• Are all of my present extensions compatible with the new version?
• Can I afford it (it's not going to be free! time = money!)

In essence, the good old saying "if it's not broken, don't fix it" comes to mind.

If you are unsure, we'll tell you when you should upgrade & give you good reasons why.

But having said that, some of the new features in the new version are very exciting to us and we can't wait to take advantage of some of them. The entire Joomla! Community can pat themselves on the back for their great efforts in bringing out this new release and we all look forward to the next scheduled release on the 10th January 2011.

Watch this space - Joomla! Rocks...