Magento 2.0 – Plans to Support
Earlier Versions of Magento

Over the last 8 blogs we have looked at all the changes made to the Magento 2.0 platform and how the changes impact merchants, developers, partners and end customers. If you have not already read those  then we encourage you to do that.

• Magento 2.0 – Modern Technology Stack for an Agile and Scalable eCommerce Platform
• Magento 2.0 – Features for Fast and Flexible Development, QA, and Deployment
• Magento 2.0 – Drive Sales and Improve Conversions with Improved Checkout Process
• Magento 2.0 – Easier Frontend Customizations for Building Next Generation eCommerce Stores
• Magento 2.0 – Improved Admin User Interface for Efficient Business Operations
• Magento 2.0 – Improved Scalability and Performance to help you Grow your Business Faster
• Magento 2.0 – Improved Roadmap for Better Planning
• Magento 2.0 – Stay Current with Easier Maintenance and Upgrades

But what does Magento 2.0 mean for all the 250,000+ merchants with eCommerce stores on the Magento 1.x platform? Read on to find out more.

Support for Earlier Versions of Magento

The Change

• Magento will continue supporting merchants on Magento 1.x for the next 3 years.
• There is little clarity if new customers will be allowed to set up stores on 1.x version of community edition, but Magento has made absolutely clear that all new customers of enterprise edition will have no other option but to adopt Magento 2.0 (in other words Magento 1.x or enterprise edition will no longer be available).

What this means for Merchants

• Merchants looking to adopt Magento eCommerce platform are better off adopting Magento 2.0. They can either wait for the platform to stabilize or adopt Magento 2.0 immediately and grow with the platform.

What this means for Existing Merchants on Magento 1.x Platform

• Continued support for next 3 years.
• Merchants on 1.x platform can download and use the Magento 2.0 platform for free; provided they upgrade before their existing license expires.
• For pricing, wait for our next blog on changes related to Pricing Model and Licensing.

What this means for Developers and Partners

• Any further investments in products built for Magento 1.x will have limited life and must be made carefully. Developers and partners should use this time to uprade their skills and migrate their existing products to the new Magento 2.0 platform.
• For implementation partners, this is an excellent opportunity to work with merchants and build a strategy to migrate them to the new platform.

What this means for End Customers

• This does not directly impact end customers. Based on when merchants decide the migrate their eCommerce store, end customers will get to shop on a more robust and fast eCommerce store powered by Magento 2.0.

In our next blog we will look at the pricing and licensing changes introduced in Magento 2.0. Stay tuned!!