Which one is better with VM2, Joomla 1.5 or 1.7

[Venkko]

I am starting up new webshop "group" and would like to know which Joomla version is best to use with VM2?

Thanks.

[PRO]

I like 1.7 much better

1.5 will only be supported for another year and a half I believe.

[mandingueiro]

I'm in the same dilemma.

I like 1.7 much better

1.5 will only be supported for another year and a half I believe.

True, but Milbo stated in a post that 1.5 is a very experienced product atm.

[jenkinhill]

There are still many bugs in J1.7 - and few in J1.5, which is a long term supported release and will still be supported after 1.7 has been replaced. But the replacement, J2.5 (due in January) is also a long term supported release which supercedes J1.5 and 1.7. It is proposed that the upgrade from 1.7 to 2.5 will be a simple click a button job, but the upgrade from 1.5 to 2.5 will be much more complex.

Joomla 1.7.1 is about to be released with (apparently) a lot of bug fixes, but also has a major code change which could cause problems for addons (maybe even VM).  J2.5 may also have addon breaking changes but nobody will know until about 3-4 weeks before it is released, when it is made available to component devs.

The rapid release schedule is causing many problems for users trying to plan ahead. I hope we do not see a situation where the "minor" update from 1.6 to 1.7 broke many Joomla templates and some important addons, such as Community Builder.

My view for a new store would be to use J1.7 with VM2 and hope that future Joomla releases don't cause too many problems. Most importantly, do not update Joomla as soon as a new release is announced. Wait for any major bugs to come to light before testing the upgrade in a store.

[Milbo]

Wow, nice answer Jenkin

Looks everything is well, nice :-)

[Venkko]

Thanks for detailled answer Jenkin.

I will start building my site with J1.7.

[mandingueiro]

Yeah thanks, me too

[webbie146]

I'm using it with Joomla 1.7 too and it runs great 

[lindapowers]

I'm sorry for being the strange guy here, but 1.5 all the way

If you are not an IT technician you won't find one single advantage on 1.7 from 1.5. At least anything that average users will notice.

And why would you doubt between a stable release like 1.5 to and "beta" version which by the way won't let you update to the stable and long time supported 1.8.

The fact that 1.5 won't be supported in one and a half year just means third party components etc will be developed for 1.8... sometimes I read this as if suddenly all 1.5 websites will be destroyed there are still joomla 1.0 websites working without problems.

I respect your opinon jenkinhill but people should know that 1.7 is a short term release and update to 1.8 won't be automatic or easy.

So in my opinion is a very bad idea to create a new website in joomla 1.7 and virtuemart 2.0.

[Milbo]

Maybe you should take j1.5, when you want todo a pure shop.

But when you want a joomla page with a shop, choose j1.7.

[mandingueiro]

And why would you doubt between a stable release like 1.5 to and "beta" version which by the way won't let you update to the stable and long time supported 1.8.

The fact that 1.5 won't be supported in one and a half year just means third party components etc will be developed for 1.8... sometimes I read this as if suddenly all 1.5 websites will be destroyed there are still joomla 1.0 websites working without problems.

I get that but will the VM2.0 and future releases be developed for 1.5 or just 1.7? I want to have a stable shop with 1.5 but I don't want to miss new VM features.

[impleri]

tl;dr: Go with 1.7 if only to acknowledge that Joomla devs are not doing it for naught.
Here's the thing: Joomla 1.7 is not a 'beta' for the 'stable' releases 1.5 or 1.8/2.5. It is considered a stable release by the Joomla team just as Ubuntu's short term support releases (which follow a similar cycle of an LTS every third release). The difference between the two is the length of time which the developers provide support (e.g. bug fixes). Joomla's release cycle is exactly like Ubuntu's 6-month cycle (in contrast to WordPress's 6-month cycle without any LTS). For most people, the STS is Joomla's preferred version, but it keeps the LTS version for websites that are unable to keep up with the cycle (again, in the same way that Ubuntu's LTS version is primarily for enterprise users which require longer periods of time for packaging and deployment).
The standard Joomla version is the STS release and website owners should not be planning to stay with the LTS because of the common misperceptions that it is 'more stable'. In my opinion, the LTS version is only around for component developers who have consistently refused to keep up with Joomla's development. I would prefer it if Joomla was more like WordPress in pushing its current API as the only one to be used. Then again, I develop quite regularly in both environments (and am consistently frustrated at Joomla component authors ignoring Joomla's features, APIs, and structure). The argument that 1.6 (and now 1.7) doesn't have anything better than 1.5 fails to see what these versions do offer but component authors have chosen not to implement (time and time again). It's the same thing we had when 1.5 was released and component authors did just enough to make their 1.1 code work with 1.5 in legacy mode. That's not a very optimistic or healthy developer perspective (and, yes, I understand that most devs work on their precious free time -- just like the Joomla devs, WordPress devs, Drupal devs, phpBB devs, etc). Next, we'll see devs refusing to use PHP 5 (or 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.0, etc) and staying with the 'perfectly fine' 4.4 (who cares if it's discontinued!).

[healthtrainer]

So in my opinion is a very bad idea to create a new website in joomla 1.7 and virtuemart 2.0.

hi!
I full agree with you. I did my website  in J1.7.0 and vm 2.0 (very good release but many things are not developed) and I think you're right.
But J1.7.0 loks better than J1.5.24. I hope that VM 2.0 is ready on January.
Ciao healthtrainer

[healthtrainer]

Maybe you should take j1.5, when you want todo a pure shop.

But when you want a joomla page with a shop, choose j1.7.

Sorry Milbo, what do you mean exactly? If  I want a shop I do the shop to sell my products. or what?
ciao healthtrainer

[PRO]

healthtrainer, what he means is Joomla can enhance a shop far more than just a shopping cart out of the box will ever do.

When you combine Joomla's capabilities with virtuemart store the possibilities are endless. J1.7 is better than 1.5 and so will be the next releases.