ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 Lives On

One of my biggest uncertainties about the EE 1.6.x to EE 2.0 transition was what would happen to EE 1.6.x. I was concerned about the transition as both someone who does client work with ExpressionEngine and has products based on ExpressionEngine.

I learned at SXSW that EE 1.6.7 would not go away but I wasn’t sure if this was public knowledge, so I didn’t say anything here on EE Insider. Well, on Friday on the EE Blog, EllisLab President Leslie Camacho made it official and public:

ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 will continue to be available for download and purchase after 2.0’s release. We view 2.0’s upcoming release as more of update to an operating system. EE 1.x has a significant install base and we estimate it will take a minimum of 2-3 years for the majority of the community to update. We will support 1.6.7 for a long time to come and we think it will remain a viable market for add-on developers for some time.

In other words, 1.6.7 is not going away. There is no reason to wait for 2.0 to get started. You can be safe knowing it will be supported for a long time and that the upgrade process will be straightforward. There will be no pressure from EllisLab to jump to 2.0 right away. Like 1.x before it, 2.0 will need to prove itself in the marketplace. We’re very confident it will.

This is great news for everyone. If you depend on certain add-ons that may not be immediately available (if at all) for EE 2.0, you can still continue to purchase and download EE 1.6.7 and develop your client sites using that version. This is also great news for third parties who are selling EE add-ons (Solspace, Leevi Graham) or learning resources (my own EE Screencasts, Mike Boyink’s Train-ee materials).

I always assumed that they would continue to offer security updates for EE 1.6.7 but it’s great to hear the software will still be available for purchase and download.