Magento 2: available versions and main differences from Magento 1

All those who decide to start their own e-commerce business are sure to come across the concept of “Magento.” However, there is a second version of this world-best platform, which offers a totally secure, adaptive, and simple environment for operating an online store.

The key features of the Magento platform is that it is open source. Thanks to this, each company gets a unique opportunity to create personalized online stores and manage them using convenient and valuable tools. However, since the first version is significantly outdated, many clients decide to use Magento 2 migration services and upgrade to a more current version of the platform.

Differences from the Magento 1

The first version of the popular platform was released in 2008. At that time, Magento 1 began to gain popularity and rapidly attract new customers. Therefore, the developers’ task was to maintain and improve the quality of their product. However, even periodic updates and the introduction of new solutions did not allow us to eliminate the existing shortcomings.

Therefore, the Magento 2 version was officially released in 2015. In it, the developers managed to eliminate the main shortcomings by introducing support for working with modern technologies. It allowed online stores that worked with the old version to cope with current difficulties. There is no point in comparing the two platforms since version 2 is superior to version 1 in all respects. It is manifested in a new architecture, high speed, increased performance, improved optimization, and security. Even the interface for administrators to work has become more convenient and intuitive.

Despite the release of the new platform, Adobe continued to support the old version. The company originally planned to maintain support until 2018, but it was extended until 2020.

Why is 2nd edition considered better than Magento 1? It manifests itself in several main features:

• support for several new systems, including MySQL, HTML7 and CSS3;
• working with current versions of PHP, which allows you to influence the speed of sites positively;
• the increased loading speed of online pages;
• revised and improved interface;
• adaptation of functions and tools for users who do not have deep development skills;
• the ordering process has been reduced to 2 stages.

Additionally, in the first version, placing orders requires 6 consecutive steps.

Current versions

Consumers are offered several versions of this popular e-commerce platform to choose from. This allows them to choose the most optimal option and try out various functions and additional features.

• Open Source. Any client can get a free version on the developer’s official website. After installing the e-platform, the user will need to be responsible for the costs of web hosting, technical support, and development;
• Adobe Commerce. It is a premium local edition with additional capabilities and technical support. Ideal for large companies and enterprises. This is because the costs of maintaining are relatively high;
• Commerce Cloud. It is a cloud-special version. It provides access to the same features as previous editions but boasts additional features. These include enhanced security, improved scalability, continuous deployment, and a fully customized production environment

In the B2B and B2C industries, this platform is rightly considered the best, most advanced, convenient, and functional.