What happens to Umbraco 7 and 8 when now we are on Umbraco 11 9 is released?

This blog post was updated by Adam Weston on 8th March 2023 to feature the latest version of Umbraco and recent EOL publications from Umbraco HQ.

I'm increasingly asked... “If I upgrade/migrate to Umbraco 8 11 or start a new project, what happens when Umbraco 9 12 is released?”

All software companies have the same challenge of managing minor and major upgrades, Long-Term Support (LTS) and End-Of-Life (EOL); Umbraco isn’t any different.

Two immediate concerns are:

• Should you start a project on v8 v11 when Umbraco v9 v12 is released shortly (ETA Q3 2021 June 29th, 2023)?
• How do you minimise the cost of upgrading/migrating to Umbraco 9 11?

Major releases like Umbraco 8 11, breaking changes in minor releases or third-party software dependencies can all impact the effort involved in upgrading.

Long-Term Support for Umbraco

Umbraco announced in early March 2021 that when Umbraco 9 is was released (the .NET Core version) in the summer, every fourth major version (released every two years) will would be Long-Term Supported. This means your business will be able to stay on a version of Umbraco for much longer, which will reduce future costs. You will still get patches and security fixes for the minor versions, with the last minor release of Umbraco 8 being Long-Term Supported too. Breaking changes will only be included in new major versions (Umbraco v9) from now on.

• Umbraco will continue to merge v8 into v9 while releasing two minor versions of v8 after the release of v9
• For the latest features, you can either upgrade or migrate to Umbraco 9 when released 11
• An upgrade may or may not require updates to custom code (ask your developer)
• An upgrade does not involve a content/database migration
• You can stick to LTS-versions of Umbraco (v7 v8) and still be safe and supported

When is End Of Life (EOL) for Umbraco 7 and Umbraco 8

What about Umbraco Forms and Courier?

• Umbraco Forms, Workflow and Deploy will be LTS. So your .NET, Umbraco CMS and Umbraco HQ packages are all supported for longer when you opt for the LTS releases. 
• Umbraco Forms and Deploy version numbers will soon be aligned with the CMS, no later than the first Long-term Support release.
• Courier End-Of-Life is scheduled for March 2022. Umbraco is reaching out to agencies regarding upgrading to Deploy On-premises.
  
  

Recommendations

For companies and organisations who are using Umbraco 7, you should be thinking about migrating to Umbraco 11 before EOL. We find that clients are taking the opportunity to make UX improvements to their websites, as well as benefiting from improvements in the CMS including translations and block grid.

Our clients sign up for Umbraco migrations, support and retained hours and have ongoing requirements for feature improvements to their solutions. If you are using v8 or 9 you chase the upgrade path to the latest version of Umbraco. Get in touch with an Umbraco Partner today.

too, then follow the minor upgrade path all the way to the major releases and keep going.

There's nothing stopping you from starting your new project on Umbraco 8. With v8 code being merged into v9, upgrades should be relatively smooth, just watch out for custom code and integrations. Also, EOL for v8 is August 2024 and this gives you plenty of time if you want to sit on your website for a while.