The release of Magento 2 has caused a small uproar in the platform’s community. As Magento marches onward with new versions of its content management system, many have expressed concerns that support will cease for the Magento 1 series of the software.

Thankfully, Magento’s support team has stepped in to say that is not the case, at least for now.

In a May 2017 statement, the company reaffirmed its commitment to the Magento 1 platform for the “foreseeable future”.

Pointing out that the support team understands many thousands of businesses still rely on Magento 1, the statement eased the fears of many in the community who felt they were being forced towards an upgrade.

When Will Support End?

That’s the big question on everybody’s lips. The original rumor was that the support for Magento 1 would end in November 2018. This would give current users just over a year to transition to Magento 2.

However, Magento’s statement says the company will provide at least 18 months’ notice before support will end. As that notice has not come as of July 2017, we can safely assume that support for Magento 1 will continue beyond the supposed November 2018 end date. Support may end in 2019, at the earliest.

Should I Switch to Magento 2?

It’s important to note that ongoing support for Magento 1 does not mean that you will see more innovations introduced to the platform. Magento 2 now takes up the lion’s share of the development focus, so we would recommend making the transition when you can. All this announcement guarantees is that those who stick with Magento 1 will have open support for the foreseeable future.

Beyond that, Magento 2 offers a lot of features that you won’t find in the first build of the platform. We spoke about some of them in a previous article.

This means it’s still wise to consider a move over to Magento 2. Your webstore will have more features to play with and can take advantage of new web technologies using the second platform.

Interactivated can help if you want any advice on making the switch. Just contact us today and we will help you with all of your Magento needs.