[TYPO3-english] Which Typo3 version to use?

[Jigal van Hemert]

Hi,

On 23/12/2014 12:47, Pero Peric wrote:
> And when you get back to Earth and real people - choose 4.5 or 4.7.20 as
> i did :-)

Sorry, but this simply isn't good advise for new users of TYPO3 CMS. 4.7 
is not maintained anymore and for example the last security update for 
4.5/6.2/7.0 was not published for the 4.7 branch.

4.5 is only maintained for a few months and is thus also not a good 
choice for a new website. (It was supported for about 4 years, but that 
period is almost over)

> In my personal opinion TYPO3 is spread up on too much fronts and new
> versions are popping out too fast. 4.5 LTS, 4.7, 6.x, 6 LTS, 7, Neos..
> omg. people.

TYPO3 Neos is a different product.

If you only used LTS versions of TYPO3 CMS (as many people do) there 
wouldn't be too many releases: 4.5 LTS was released almost 4 years ago 
(2011-01-26), 6.2 LTS was released 9 months ago (2014-03-25) and will be 
maintained for three years in total (so more than two years left).

7 is a different story: we're not releasing versions anymore that are 
not LTS (Long Term Support), but instead release the steps towards the 
next LTS version. People who either want the latest technology or who 
need certain features of the new releases can use 7 but have to realize 
that they need to update regularly until 7 LTS is out.

> Recently i started new site and i choose 4.7.20. Why? I really don't
> have time to play with things that will not work on 6.x - i'm pointing
> here mainly on extensions but other things too. I need stable known
> environment to make a site as fast as possible - not to lose time
> googling and writing to this list. Version 7 i will not even comment.

The only thing you are doing is to make a site that is outdated with 
security issues. This is not a good thing for your client, for you and 
for the TYPO3 CMS product.

> Neos - nice, but last time i checked this it was more like a CMS
> playground, not some real CMS to be used in real world.

It's a different product. There are quite a few features that need to be 
implemented (which nobody denies). If you have no need for those 
features and if you need the features and properties of Neos then it's a 
good choice. You have to be prepared for regular updates which might 
include breaking changes.

> In the end i'll give u my personal opinion where should TYPO3 focus. So,
> i think instead od mass producing new versions every 5 days TYPO3 should

In the past the release cycle was 6 months for non-LTS versions. We're 
now only making LTS versions (three years maintenance) and releasing the 
new version in pieces. I think this is actually making things simpler, 
less versions to chose from and longer support periods.

> focus more on end user usability and incoporating features that are
> today web standard - for example RealURL should have been implemented in
> TYPO3 long time ago before any 6,7,Neos or whatever version. It's just

RealURL is not included in the core for a reason. The features needed 
for URL rewriters are included in the core. You now have a choice to use 
nothing, RealURL, CoolURI, SimulateStatic (it's now a separate 
extension) or anything else out there.
These extensions can receive bugfixes and new features faster than the 
core and there is more freedom for site integrators.

> like developers don't have a feeling for a real world problems people
> experience by using CMS but they dream about optimizing code and
> implementing super cool new programming stuff. Just an opinion.

It's an opinion but it's not how reality is. Features are made because 
there are use cases for them. Code is optimized because people want more 
speed and ask for it. In 6.2 a lot was improved but a compatibility 
layer had to be included to have backwards compatibility. The 
compatibility layer is now an optional system extension in 7.0. If you 
do not load that sysext the entire system is noticeably faster (not just 
measurable, but you can easily notice it).
Many people had the problem in the past that they installed an extension 
and only had blank pages in the browser (due to a fatal PHP error). The 
6.2 Install Tool can help here; you can test the extensions if they will 
prevent the backend from loading and you can also deactivate these 
problematic extensions in the Install Tool.
The list of improvements since 4.5 is long, better HTML in frontend, 
accessibility options, support for responsive images, drag&drop in page 
module, on-click installation of extensions, configurable preview 
windows in view module, File Abstraction Layer (remote files can be 
handled by extensions/TypoScript just like local files), and so on 
(there are PDFs of hundreds of pages which list all the improvements for 
each release between 4.5 and 6.2).

Sticking with 4.5 (or even worse: 4.7) is a bad choice IMO.

-- 
Jigal van Hemert
TYPO3 CMS Active Contributor

TYPO3 .... inspiring people to share!
Get involved: typo3.org