FAQ - End of Life for Magento 1.X

Magento 2 was released on November 17, 2015 and since then there have been regular updates in form of new versions and releases. The latest Magento Open source version 2.2.4 was released on May 2, 2018. You can download it from Magento.com.

In any software application life-cycle, a new version means eventual demise of the older version. Magento 1 and 2 have managed to co-exist peacefully from past 2 and half years. Magento 1 was one of the most used (if not always #1) Ecommerce platforms and thousands of webshops were built on Magento 1 platform in last decade. Many businesses have invested significant amount of money and human resources in developing and polishing their Magento 1 online stores over the years. These stores are still running and doing great by all standards.

Magento Inc. was wise enough to not expect everyone to throw away all that work and quickly jump to Magento 2, so they have kept both platforms floating in parallel so far. However, it is also a hard fact that Magento 2 is newer, better and hence the future of Ecommerce. Magento 1 has become outdated, will eventually be obsolete and will have to be retired honourably. Magento 2 is improving with each new release and increasing number of businesses are adopting it. The retirement date for Magento 1 day cannot be very far into the future.

Everyone keept asking us about 'End Of Life' for Magento 1, so we thought we will quickly answer all the frequently asked questions this week.

1. When is Magento community edition (called 'Open source' now) reaching its End of life (EOL)?

Earlier it was believed that Magento 1.x will reach its end-of-life on November 18, 2018. This date was conveyed by various members of Magento Inc. on different occasions, but there never was an official statement about it. But as the pressure from international Magento community mounted, they recently debunked that date. The official stand as of now is that Magento will continue supporting Magento 1.x for a foreseeable future. There is no plan to stop M1 support as of now and when they decide to stop supporting it, they will give the community a period of atleast 18 months to migrate to Magento 2.x. So yes, nothing to worry about at-least for the next 18 months. You can sleep peacefully knowing that even if Magento makes that announcement tomorrow, they will support it till end of 2019.

2. What happens after EOL?

Magento community edition 1.x will not stop working even after EOL. Your webshop will continue to work as it works now. Nothing will error out or go kaput! Just that Magento will stop releasing any security patches and there will be no further updates or new releases after EOL date. In this support period, all they will do is release security patches, if any new vulnerability show up. Magento seems to have already stopped active development for Magento 1.x platform. That means they will not be releasing new features or improvements in the future. We do not suggest you to be caught with no plans when M1 EOL date arrives. Ecommerce is an always-evolving sector and you cannot compete with new newer technologies while you are using an older platform. As new and stringent privacy laws come into play, it is very important that your webshops are always kept up-to-date and compliant with all protocols and guidelines.

3. Can we update our existing M1 webshop to M2?

Magento 1 and Magento 2 are completely different systems. Magento 2 is not an incremental update to Magento 1.9. M2 was built from scratch and has a completely different code-base and architecture. So you cannot upgrade your current Magento 1 store to a Magento 2 webshop. You will have to develop a new webshop based on latest Magento 2 version. Your theme, extensions and all custom developed features cannot be migrated as well. You will have to re-do them again for your Magento 2 platform. We suggest you use this opportunity to get rid of all technical-debt and flaws of your M1 project. You can migrate some of your settings and data though. You can read more about it at the official source.

4. Will Hungersoft support its M1 extensions?

Yes, Hungersoft will continue to support all its Magento 1 extensions and projects as long as needed. We stand by our products and projects! We will not be launching any new Magento 1.x extensions or projects anymore, as we belive in always moving towards the future.

5. Can Hungersoft help with M1 to M2 migration?

Yes definitely! Our Magento experts and developers can help you move from Magento 1 to Magento 2 in the most efficient and resource-friendly manner. We have decades of experience with Magento 1 and have been working continuously with Magento 2 since the time it was released in 2015. We have deep experience and expertise with both platforms and this gives us a unique advantage when it comes to helping our clients move from Magento 1 to Magento 2.

Feel free to write to us if you have more questions about Magento 1 or Magento 2 or need our assistance with the migration.