Our Thoughts on the Magento 2 Merchant Beta Release

Back in July, Magento announced the availability of the Magento 2 Merchant Beta release. This release is the last major milestone before the official Magento 2 version is released in the 4th quarter of 2015.

A few links for more information about the Magento 2 Merchant Beta version:

Magento 2 Blog Post on Magento.com

Magento 2 Webinar Video Recap

We here at LexiConn have been working with both the developer and merchant beta versions. It is a full featured ecommerce system, that on first glance looks similar to Magento 1, but really is almost a completely new ecommerce application. From a complete code rewrite to an updated admin and cart/checkout process, Magento 2 is not the same as the original. The beta is still a work in progress, lots of bugs and issues to be worked out by Magento. It is not ready for a live store, but is a “peek” into what to expect when Magento 2 is officially released.

We’ve set up two demo stores that you are welcome to test out:

Magento 2 Shared Hosting Merchant Beta Demo – Populated with sample data to see how it would look as a “real” store. This install is on one of our standard shared Magento servers, utilizing the built-in Full Page Cache of Magento 2 and using file based storage. It gives you an idea of what you can expect with Magento 2 hosted with us. Our shared environment works well for smaller stores.

Magento 2 VPS Hosting Merchant Beta Demo – Another sample data store set up on one of our standard Virtual Private Servers (VPS). This store is using Varnish 4 as the caching solution instead of the built-in full page cache.

Feel free to kick the tires, and ask us any questions about either demo store, or Magento 2 in general.

Magento 1 or 2?

Many merchants are not sure which version they should be exploring. The good news is Magento 1 will be supported for three years from the date that Magento 2 is released. Magento 1 is a mature ecommerce product that has lots of themes, extensions, and support around the internet. It is not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

If you already run a Magento 1 store, you may want to stick with Magento 1 for now. There is no 100% seamless upgrade path to Magento 2, so it’s not a quick update. In many cases it will be a complete rewrite for themes, extensions, and custom work. There are very few extensions for Magento 2 now, and themes are still a work in progress.

If you are thinking of launching a new ecommerce store in the next 12 months, Magento 1 may still be the best choice. Magento 2 will be released by the end of 2015. However, there will be a number of bugs that will rear their ugly heads, as well as unexpected bumps and issues with such a new and large product. It likely won’t be “stable” until the middle of 2016 (just my opinion). Magento 1 would be a much easier path for a store looking to launch in the next year or sooner.

Whether you choose Magento 1 or Magento 2 for your ecommerce store, we’ll be ready for either version. Our offerings are optimized for Magento 1 and 2, and we’ll continue to improve our services with regards to Magento as it grows and changes.

Looking for a web host that understands ecommerce and business hosting?
Check us out today!

2 Comments

  1. Dan says:

    I disagree completely with this article. I would definitely chose magento2, even if there are a few bugs. Bugs are in magento1 too. But magento2 has unit testing, composer etc. Comparing magento1 to magento2 is like comparing php4 to php5. For what is worth magento1 should be dead the minute magento2 is ready.

  2. TIm says:

    Sorry to say Dan, But i will choose Magento 2.0 because i am using multiputpose & responsive theme Kosmic and i am not facing any issues with that theme as well as many other Magento 2 extensions.

Leave a Reply to Dan