Magento 2 Release Notes - Magento eCommerce

In the following post, we will gather all Magento 2 release notes starting from 1.0.0-beta. Since every release includes a plethora of improvements and changes, we’ve divided them into several subcategories, such as performance, payment methods, checkout, CMS, etc. These are the latest Magento 2 Release notes from the official repo.

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Table of contents

Magento 2.4.2 Release Notes

Below, you will find features and enhancements associated with Magento 2.4.2. Firstly, we describe the Open Source innovations introduced in the platform’s latest version. Secondly, you will find unique improvements associated with the Commerce edition.

Magento 2.4.2 Open Source Release Notes

Magento 2.4.2 Open Source received tons of enhancements in the following areas:

Security

Both platform editions include numerous security fixes backported to Magento 2.4.1-p1 and Magento 2.3.6-p1. You deal with more than 35 security enhancements aimed at closing RCE and XSS vulnerabilities. Although no attacks related to these issues have been confirmed, you must install the security update since malefactors can potentially exploit certain vulnerabilities.

Bear in mind that most of these issues require admin access. Therefore, you need to protect your backend area by two-factor authentication, IP white lists, VPN, unique admin address, and strong password.

Other security improvements are:

Full support for the SameSite attribute.
Potentially malicious content identification via messages in product and category description fields. The alert is displayed when the user tries to save values there.
Standardized file system operations across Magento components prevent malicious uploads.
Fixed Core Content Security Policy violations.

Infrastructure

Both Magento 2.4.2 Open Source and Commerce editions introduce improvements to core quality. They enhance the quality of the Framework with such functional areas as:

Customer Account;
CMS;
Catalog;
OMS;
Import/Export;
Promotions and Targeting (Commerce);
Staging and Preview (Commerce);
Cart and Checkout.

Platform

Magento 2.4.2 supports:

Elasticsearch 7.9.x and remains compatible with 7.4.x.
Varnish 6.4 and remains compatible with its 6.x version.
Redis 6.x and remains compatible with Redis 5.x.
Composer 2.x and remains compatible with Composer 1.x, which will soon reach end-of-life.

Also, note that the split database functionality has been deprecated. If you leverage this feature, you will need to revert or migrate to a single.

Performance

Magento 2.4.2 introduces boosted API performance and faster Admin response time. These enhancements are associated with deployments with large catalogs. Due to multiple scalability enhancements, Magento 2.4.2 now supports complex catalogs up to 20x larger than before.

Adobe Stock

Magento has been integrated with Adobe Stock for a while. In 2.4.2, you can leverage v2.1.1.

GraphQL

Magento 2.4.2 introduces improved GraphQL coverage. Now, you can leverage the following features:

GraphQL in catalog permissions provides the ability to restrict which items are returned for a product query. The shopper’s customer group is used as a base for this operation.
Due to the generateCustomerTokenAsAdmin mutation and enhanced Customer object, remote purchasing assistance is easier in Magento 2.4.2 than in other platform versions.
Changing languages, carts, and currencies is way more simple since localization support across stores is a part of Magento 2.4.2.
The enhanced GraphQL schema optimizes product data retrieval for configurable products.
Magento GraphQL now supports unions.
Magento 2.4.2 no longer works with integer type object IDs. They have been deprecated. Now, the system relies on uid attributes of type ID.
ProductInterface and CategoryInterface are enhanced with the staging attribute. Now, it is easier to determine if a product is staged. Besides, the system can display its associated campaign information.

For further information, follow this link: GraphQL Developer Guide.

PWA Studio

Magento 2.4.2 is associated with the new release of PWA Studio. It includes the following enhancements:

Venia supports multiple stores, languages. and currencies.
It delivers enhanced extensibility.
Client-side performance enhancements incorporate Google Lighthouse.
My Account for Venia includes order history, saved payments, and address book.

Media Gallery

Media Gallery is associated with new Role Resources in Magento 2.4.2. Besides, it can now deliver web-optimized images in the content.

According to the first feature, you can limit administrator access to the Media Gallery and assign the following roles:

Upload assets;
Change assets details;
Insert media assets into content;
Delete assets;
Edit folder structure.

Web-optimized image rendition allows for replacing high-resolution images. While the original image stays untouched in the Media Gallery, the image rendition is dynamically generated every time the image is inserted in the content.

MFTF

Magento 2.4.2 delivers Magento Functional Testing Framework version 3.2.1. You can leverage error tolerance in both tests and test suite generation along with some minor enhancements and bug fixes.

AWS S3

Amazon Simple Storage Service (AWS S3) support now covers object storage and future extensibility. Besides, it enables you to store media files on AWS S3.

Also, note that B2B, PageBuilder, Adobe Stock Integration, and other modules support AWS S3.

Magento 2.4.2 Commerce Release Notes

Note that Magento 2.4.2 Commerce shares the same set of enhancements that Open Source incorporates. At the same time, it is associated with the following unique features:

GraphQL

The list of GraphQL improvements of Magento 2.4.2 Commerce also contains the following features:

Support for multiple wish lists. Now, GraphQL enables you to create, delete, and rename wish lists. At the same time, you can move and copy items between them using the new technology improvement.
Support for RMA. Customers can request a return in a more user-friendly way. If the request is accepted, the customer can add a comment or tracking data.
Support for B2B:
- Companies. In Magento 2.4.2, you can use GraphQL to add company admins, users, roles, and teams.
- Company credit. Now, you can view details about the company’s credit history in a company query.
- Requisition lists. Magento 2.4.2 lets you use GraphQL to create, delete, and update requisition lists as well as add, update, delete, copy, and move items within them or add requisition list items to the cart.

B2B

Magento 2.4.2 includes the latest version of the B2B module – v1.3.1. It supports online payments for POs along with numerous bug fixes. You can complete the former with the help of online payment methods. From the perspective of a B2B buyer, it is possible to select a preferred payment method for each purchase order. A corresponding prompt appears during the initial checkout.

Next, a buyer is prompted to enter payment details to convert the purchase order to a final order after the PO has been approved.

Other B2B updates include:

Existing payment method templates can be overridden during initial checkout. Thus, Magento maintains PCI compliance.
The system is compatible with third-party payment methods.
Magento sends email notifications to buyers, asking for payment details to an approved PO.
Custom email templates are supported.
An Approved – Pending Payment state for POs is now available. It determines when actions are required.
Order total amount remains unchanged for approved POs since Magento disables customers to add or remove discount codes at the final payment step. However, buyers can change the payment method.

Page Builder

Page Builder content migration and CSS customization were improved in Magento 2.4.2. The following enhancements are at your service:

Magento now offers different content type output per viewport, avoiding the !important directive.
You can migrate content to Page Builder and it will no longer follow the default inline styling.
It is not necessary to place all content types within a row. Page Builder introduces an initially blank stage. Besides, you can place Rows, Columns, Tabs, Dynamic Blocks, HTML Code, and Blocks there.
It is no longer necessary to specify predefined margins and paddings.
Magento 2.4.2 introduces the new mobile viewport switcher and viewport scope for form field values. Thus, it is possible to perform the following actions:
- You can now view content on different viewports while authoring.
- Besides, it is allowed to optimize the minimum height field parameter on different content types per viewport. However, ‘min-height’ is the only parameter supported out of the box. You need to develop custom parameters to enable mobile optimization for other content types.
- As a developer, you can also add field scope to custom fields and fieldsets.

Magento 2.4.1 Release Notes

As usual, Magento introduces enhancements to performance and safety, and 2.4.1 is not an exception. Security enhancements (15+) are represented by the SameSite attribute for cookies and the addition of CAPTCHA protection for payment-related and order-related API endpoints. Besides, you get 150+ fixes to the core code and significant enhancements in GraphQL. Also, bear in mind that all known issues of Magento 2.4.0 have been fixed.

As for backward-incompatible changes Magento 2.4.1 introduces minor shifts described here: BIC reference.

Time-sensitive security fixes are under your disposal too. You can install them without applying the hundreds of functional fixes and enhancements. Magento 2.4.1 comes along with the patch 2.4.0.1 (Composer package 2.4.0-p1). It is a security-only patch that addresses vulnerabilities identified in Magento 2.4.0.

Magento Open Source 2.4.1 Release Notes

All changes represented in Magento 2.4.1 are divided into the following sections:

Security

With over 15 security fixes and platform security improvements help protect your store from remote code execution (RCE) and cross-site scripting (XSS). They include:

CAPTCHA has been added to the place order storefront page and payment-related REST and GraphQL endpoints.
The SameSite attribute for cookies is now supported. It is set to Lax by default.
A database of over 8700 threat signatures is now integrated into the Magento Security Scan Tool.

Infrastructure

Framework, Customer Account, CMS, OMS, Catalog, Import/Export, Promotions and Targeting, Staging and Preview, Cart and Checkout, and other infrastructure elements have been enhanced in Magento 2.4.1.

Performance

Magento 2.4.1 offers the following core performance enhancements:

Smaller network transfers between Redis and Magento result in a decrease in network cache size and execution time.
Enhanced message queue consumer performance due to the three new configuration settings that cause a decrease in consumer queue CPU consumption.
Faster bin/magento commands.

Adobe Stock

Magento 2.4.1 is integrated with Adobe Stock 2.1.0.

Media Gallery

Starting from Magento 2.4.1, the New Media Gallery is enabled in the Admin by default. As a merchant, you can delete images in bulk, identify duplicate images, detect images that are not used on the storefront, apply filters to reorder images by the storefront area they are used in, work with image metadata (view, edit, search by metadata).

GraphQL

GraphQL coverage for the following features is now a part of Magento 2.4.1:

Product reviews;
Gift options;
Order history;
Add to cart;
Payment methods stored in My Account;
Wish lists in Open Source;
Customer accounts;
Payflow Pro Vault payment method;
Klarna.

Also, note that Magento 2.4.1 introduces updated GraphQL storeConfig query. Another enhancement is a new requestPasswordResetEmail mutation that now triggers the password reset email for the provided email address. You can find more information here: GraphQL Developer Guide.

PWA Studio

Magento 2.4.1 also introduces PWA Studio v8.0.0. The latter offers the following enhancements:

Venia style guide updated with new design tokens, colors, typography, core components, page layouts;
Improved mini-cart experience;
Support for localized content and multiple locales;
Improved My Account experience.

Magento Functional Testing Framework (MFTF)

MFTF 3.1.0 has also been released along with Magento 2.4.1. You can find more information here: Magento Functional Testing Framework Changelog.

Vendor Developed Extensions

The following extensions also got updates in 2.4.1: Amazon Pay, dotdigital Engagement Cloud, Braintree, Klarna, Yotpo Product Reviews, and Vertex Cloud.

Magento Commerce 2.4.1 Release Notes

Magento Commerce 2.4.1 also offers enhancements to performance and security plus. However, there is a significant addition to the B2B feature set introduced with the update. Let’s take a look at what makes Magento 2.4.1 Commerce different from Open Source.

Site-Wide Analysis Tool (SWAT) is now integrated with Magento Admin. It offers system insights and provides instrumentation for real-time performance monitoring. You can get reports and self-service recommendations. Utilize the new SWAT Admin role to access SWAT Customer Detail pages through the Magento Admin in a more secure way. You can find more information here: SWAT.

As for B2B, its v1.3.0 is now a part of Magento 2.4.1. As a merchant, you get better order approvals, enhanced shipping methods, improved shopping cart, and updated logging of Admin actions.

Order Approvals

B2B order approvals support bulk actions on purchase orders. Besides, you get the following features:

B2B buyers are able to view rules applied to their company even if they do not have permission to edit them. The information is available on the new View Rule page.
The Requires My Approval tab is enhanced with the count alert icon that indicates the number of pending approval actions.
Bulk order approvals and rejections for B2B managers and Company Administrators.
The My Purchase Orders view lets Merchants search the Applies to and Requires approval from fields. They can also select multiple user roles during rule creation.

B2B shipping methods

As a B2B merchant, you can control shipping methods per Company. Magento 2.4.1 lets you create a set of shipping methods and use all or B2B-specific shipping methods per Company account.

Shopping cart

It is possible to clear a shopping cart in a single action.
As a B2B buyer, you can add shopping carts (individual items or the entire contents) to requisition lists.

Admin

It is now possible to create orders from the Admin on behalf of customers based on the Payment on Account payment method.
As a merchant, you can view all quotes linked to a user from the customer’s detail page.
The Company filter is now available in the Customers Now Online grid.
The Sales Rep filter for customers is also available.

Storefront security

Google reCAPTCHA on the New Company Request is now possible.

Admin actions logging

If an admin takes actions in the Company modules (Company, NegotiableQuote, CompanyCredit, SharedCatalog), they are logged in the Admin Actions Log.

For further information about Magento 2.4.1, follow this link: Magento 2.4.1 Release Notes. Also, check backward incompatibility issues.

Magento 2.4.0 Open Source Release Notes

Below, you will find key highlights from the Magento Open Source 2.4.0 release notes. The new platform version introduces support for PHP 7.4, Elasticsearch 7.6.x, and MySQL 8.0. Besides, it delivers substantial security changes, such as two-factor authentication for admin users, which is now enabled by default. Also, pay heed to the removal of the Authorize.Net and Braintree payment method integrations from core code. Now, you have to instal the corresponding third-party modules manually. The Magento 2.4.0 contains 100+ core code fixes and 30 security improvements. Let’s take a look at the main points of the update.

Security

Over 30 security enhancements introduced in Magento 2.4.0 help merchants struggle with both external and internal threats. They mainly address remote code execution and cross-site scripting issues.

One of the most important enhancements is that Two-Factor Authentication is now available for admin accounts (cannot be disabled), Magento.com user accounts, and Cloud SSH access.

Another key security feature introduced in Magento 2.4.0 is related to the template filter strict mode. It is now enabled by default, dramatically reducing risks of RCE attacks.

At the same time, the new platform version disables data rendering for UI data providers reducing an opportunity to execute arbitrary JavaScript.

Besides, PHP classes responsible for generating HTML as well as .phtml templates get a new class – MagentoFrameworkEscaper. It contains HTML sanitization methods designed for multiple new contexts. Also, bear in mind that the $escaper local variable from .phtml templates is a mandatory replacement for the deprecated $block->escape{method}.

A new security.txt file introduces an industry-standard server data element designed to help security researchers provide store admins with information regarding potential security issues.

As promised before, Magento now allows installing security fixes only. If you don’t need new features but want to keep your website safe, this option will help you save tons of time and effort. You can update the shield around your e-commerce store without applying the hundreds of functional fixes and enhancements. You can find more information here: Introducing the New Security-only Patch Release.

Platform

Now, let’s take a look at core platform upgrades introduced in Magento 2.4.0:

PHP:
- PHP 7.4 support;
- PHP 7.1 and 7.2 are deprecated;
PHPUnit:
- PHPUnit 9.x support;
- PHPUnit 6.5 is deprecated;
Elasticsearch 7.6.x becomes the default catalog search engine for both Magento Commerce and Open Source;
MySQL 8.0 is supported along with MySQL 5.7. However, MySQL 5.6 can be no longer used;
MySQL catalog search engine has been replaced with Elasticsearch;
MariaDB 10.4 is supported along with MariaDB 10.2. Note that MariaDB 10.0 and 10.1 can be no longer used;
Laminas project instead of Zend Framework: migrate dependencies;
Signifyd fraud protection is removed from the code. You have to look for a replacement on the Magento Marketplace;
Braintree has also been removed from the codebase.

Before going any further, check this article about the issues related to the updated technology stack: How to Run Magento 2.4 That Requires PHP 7.4 and Elasticsearch.

Infrastructure

Numerous infrastructure improvements revamp the functionality of previous Magento releases. The new changes enhance the quality of the Framework and numerous modules, such as Customer Account, CMS, Catalog, Checkout, etc. Let’s cast a glance at the most notable updates:

Third-party payment methods are no longer available in the core code of Magento. You have to use third-party extensions instead;
Partial-word search is a new feature introduced with the appointment of Elasticsearch as a new default search engine. Partial words are supported in search terms for product names and SKUs;
PayPal JavaScript SDK has been upgraded to the latest version, introducing the newest features and best security;
Web Set-Up Wizard has been deprecated. Use the command-line interface instead;
Composer update plugin enhancements simplify the upgrade process by addressing issues associated with the root project composer.json file. Overwriting customizations problems are resolved too;
Seller-assisted shopping provides the ability to view the storefront on behalf of your customers and get access to their accounts right from the frontend:
- Complete control over which administrators can log in to customer accounts;
- Orders placed on behalf of customers are logged normally: both in the storefront and admin;
- Top-notch customer security: the system destroys all sessions when administrators log out; admins cannot access customer passwords.

Performance

Every new Magento release delivers various performance optimizations, and Magento 2.4.0 is not an exception. The new version offers the following enhancements in the area of speed and productivity:

Customer data section invalidation. The logic behind this section has been improved, addressing the issue related to a local storage and active custom sections.xml invalidations;
Redis. The number of queries to Redis performed on each Magento request has been reduced. It leads to shrink size of network data transfers between Redis and Magento; smaller consumption of CPU cycles; decreased race conditions related to Redis write operations;
Caching. Magento 2.4.0 introduces a new caching mechanism for results of SQL queries to inventory tables;
Quick Order. Quick Order add-to-cart performance has been improved. It is faster up to 25-30%;
Lazy Loading. Magento loads images notably faster.

Adobe Stock

Magento 2.4.0 introduces the ability to license stock image previews right from the Media Gallery, reducing the number of steps that should be taken previously. It is possible to search, filter, and sort images up to 30x faster.

Inventory Management

Magento 2.4.0 supports Inventory Management 1.2.0. Its core features include:

A new in-store delivery method can be selected during checkout. A source can be used as a pickup location. Follow this link for more information: Magento 2 In-store Delivery;
Bundle products are now supported in multi-source mode. Thus, the Magento 2 Inventory now supports all product types with multiple sources;
Asynchronous stock re-indexing dramatically enhances the performance of the Magento 2 inventory management.
New bulk interfaces have been added for salability check;
Increased test coverage + numerous bug fixes.

Check Inventory Management release notes for more details.

GraphQL

Various GraphQL enhancements introduced in Magento 2.4.0 improve numerous areas, such as:

pickupLocations query now supports the Inventory In-store pickup feature;
categories query not only returns a list of categories that match a specified filter, like the categoryList query did before, but also supports pagination.
reorderItems mutation enables logged-in users to add products from a previous order into a cart.

You can find more information here: GraphQL Developer Guide & GraphQL Release Notes.

Magento Functional Testing Framework

Magento 2.4.0 works with MFTF v3.0.0, which in its turn supports PHP 7.4 and PHPUnit 9. Its core features include:

MFTF helpers for custom actions outside of the framework;
Sub-folders in test modules;
Schema updates for test entities;
Nested assertion syntax;
Static checks for references to deprecated test entities.

Note that the deprecated actions of MFTF have been removed and scripts responsible for upgrading tests to MFTF major version requirements have been updated.

Vendor-developed Extensions

Although numerous third-party extensions are deprecated in Magento 2.4.0, there are still some vendor-developed modules built into the platform.

Thus, Amazon Pay improvements include CSP allowlists updates as well as support for multiple authorizations for a multi-item order and Japanese addresses.

Braintree Payments replaces the core Braintree integration.

Klarna in Magento 2.4.0 delivers new on-site messaging options to help shoppers understand the available credit and financing options. Besides, it supports refunds, discounts, cookies & unit tests, as well as updated configuration settings.

Vertex provides better admin experience, XML schema files and patches instead of scripts, and deprecated code removal.

Yotpo’s Ratings and Reviews feature is now integrated with Page Builder.

Magento 2.4 Commerce Release Notes

Magento Commerce 2.4.0 includes all the features mentioned above plus several more enhancements, such as renewed B2B features. The deprecated payment methods include: Authorize.Net, Braintree, eWay, CyberSource, and Worldpay.

Page Builder

The major Page Builder improvement introduced in Magento 2.4.0 is that it now supports PHP 7.4. That’s it.

B2B

As for the B2B improvements of Magento 2.4.0, they are quite lean too. The new platform version introduces the Order Approval Workflow feature that allows managers of buying organizations to configure approval rules for their buyers.

Thus, Magento now supports self-service configuration of unique approval rules per Company account. Flexible rule criteria can be based on such parameters as order amount, number of line items, or shipment costs. Configurable thresholds add a new flexibility level to the initial configuration.

Customizable permissions for all aspects of the feature is another notable change to the default workflow.

Approvals are now required in quick storefront view of Purchase Orders. Besides, you get better control over the related processes with a full history log of actions.

Email notifications now inform relevant parties about all steps taken during the approval process.

Also, numerous bug fixes to the B2B functionality have been introduced in Magento 2.4.0. You can view them here: B2B Release Notes.

Vendor-developed Extension

Magento Commerce 2.4.0 includes the same third-party modules as Open Source as well as the dotdigital extension. The latter offers the following improvements:

Customer attribute values captured by any input type are synced correctly – like data fields;
It is possible to send cart insight data for all active quotes, even if they are empty;
The website name, store name, and store view name can be synced by individual data fields;
The transactional data sync limit for Wishlist, Review, and Order data has been improved;
Logging output from the Client class is consistent across all the API wrapper methods;
Configurable products have a stock figure – a sum of their child products;
Stock updates performed outside the Magento admin are now detected;
Improved data mapping;
Updated transactional email configuration.

This release introduces significant improvements and various tools that enhance the developer experience: PWA Studio, alternatives to SOAP and REST, and a flexible frontend API that opens rich opportunities for the frontend, headless, and mobile development.

Magento 2.3.5 Open Source Release Notes

Magento 2.3.5 contains 180 functional fixes as well as 25 security enhancements. Below, we concentrate on the most essential updates.

Platform updates

Platform updates include support for Elasticsearch 7.x and deprecation of Authorize.Net, eWay, CyberSource, Worldpay, and Signifyd integrations. Use the corresponding modules from the Marketplace.

Besides, Magento 2.3.5 delivers an upgrade for Symfony Components to 4.4 and relies on the Laminas project instead of the Zend Framework.

Performance

With Magento 2.3.5, you can now benefit from improvements in customer data section invalidation as well as numerous Redis performance optimizations.

Infrastructure

Magento 2.3.5 infrastructure improvements are related to Catalog, PayPal, Sales, Elasticsearch, Import, CMS, and B2B modules. The system now follows the SameSite cookie update with the PayPal Pro payment method. Besides, you can leverage a PHPStan code analysis check via static builds.

Inventory Management

A new extension point for SourceDataProvider and StockDataProvider and allocated inventory sources in the list of orders are among the inventory management updates of Magento 2.3.5.

GraphQL

Products and categoryList queries can be utilized for retrieving information about the corresponding entities of a staged campaign.

PWA Studio

PWA Studio 6.0.0 offers a new PWA extensibility framework, improved caching and data fetching, as well as a full-page shopping cart experience.

Third-party extensions

Google Shopping ads Channel is no longer supported. Klarna is delivered to Australia and New Zealand. Vertex offers improved backend interface, address validation, tax calculations for virtual products, WSDL ports with basic authentication, restorable configuration settings, etc.

Magento 2.3.5 CommerceRelease Notes

Magento 2.3.5 Commerce also introduces the following enhancements:

Dotdigital connects the Engagement cloud with Magento B2B via company data (customer types, companies, company statuses), shared catalog data, and quotes data synchronization. As a result, you get better campaigns and more precise recommendations.
Page Builder offers templates to customize the appearance of your store pages and save them for further updates to new content areas. Video backgrounds can be added to rows, banners, and sliders, which now support full-page hight. Previously saved content versions are updated automatically so that they always match newer configuration changes.
For B2B enhancements of Magento 2.3.5 follow this link: B2B Release Notes. They include mostly fixes.
Product Recommendations introduce a built-in personalization tool powered by Adobe Sensei. We describe it here: Magento 2 Personalization Services.

Magento Open Source 2.3.3 Release Notes

Like other releases, Magento Open Source 2.3.3 offers platform upgrades and security changes. Check this article for more detailed description of features: Magento 2.3.4 Enhancements.

New security patches

Starting from 2.3.3, Magento offers time-sensitive security patches that don’t apply hundreds of functional fixes and enhancements. Thus, patch 2.3.2.2 is a security-only patch designed to fix vulnerabilities that have been identified in Magento 2.3.2. You can read more about this new improvement here: Introducing the New Security-only Patch Release. Also, read this article to discover how to install the new patch: Install Magento using Composer.

Security enhancements

Magento 2.3.3 Open Source includes many more security enhancements that can be divided into three groups. Firstly, it is PSD2 compliance with core payment methods. Secondly, the new platform version fixes 75 critical security issues. Thirdly, 2.3.3 offers enhancements that boost XSS protection against future exploits.

PSD2 compliance

Since PSD2 went into effect on September 14, Magento has already prepared its users for the new change. The 2.3.3 version contains the following PSD-related changes:

Braintree is now compliant with PSD2;
Authorize.net now provides the ability to make 3D Secure verification through third-party services;

Magento 2.3.3 no longer includes the Cybersource and eWay payment modules. You have to replace them with the official extensions instead.

Security enhancements

75 security enhancements improve close cross-site scripting and remote code execution vulnerabilities. Besides, they also fix other security issues. Although no confirmed attacks occurred, certain vulnerabilities can potentially be exploited to access your admin and customer data.

Platform upgrades

To boost platform security and performance, Magento 2.3.3 Open source supports PHP 7.3.x and 7.2.x. The latest tested versions are 7.3.8 and 7.2.21. It also supports Varnish 6.2.0. Also, note that Zend Framework 2 Components have been upgraded to the Active/LTS versions.

Performance improvements

To enhance the platform performance, Magento 2.3.3 offers the following features:

Automatic URL rewrite generation that occurs when the category products belong to is saved can be enabled/disabled.

Non-critical CSS elements are at the bottom of the page increasing its load speed. Enable the feature under Stores > Configuration > Advanced > Developer > CSS Settings > Use CSS critical path.

The jQuery/ui library exists as separate widgets. It means that core modules can now load only the widgets they need.

To increase page load speed, Magento 2.3.3 store pages display text in readable system fonts while loading custom ones. The more large CSS files and fonts you use, the more noticeable the improvement is.

Infrastructure improvements

Magento 2.3.3 includes updated Framework and the following modules: Catalog, Sales, Checkout/One Page Checkout, UrlRewrite, Customer, and Ui. Also, note that the WYSIWYG editor has been upgraded. Its latest version is TinyMCE v. 4.9.5.

Merchant tool enhancements

Magento 2.3.3 provides a tracking tool for user actions and events on the Admin. The data is saved and provided to Adobe Analytics.

Inventory Management enhancements

As for inventory management enhancements of Magento 2.3.3, they include fixes to multiple bugs. You can find more information here: Inventory Management release notes.

GraphQL

Expanded GraphQL functionality covers PayPal payment integrations, store credits, and gift cards. You can leverage it to process payments, redeem gift cards and convert to store credit balance, update shopping carts, and add configurable products to cart.

PWA Studio

Magento 2.3.3 also includes upgrades for PWA Studio 4.0.0. Now, this tool contains new hooks in Peregrine as well as refactored components that can be converted into re-useable Peregrine hooks.

Google Shopping ads Channel

In Magento 2.3.3, the Google Shopping ads Channel Marketplace module is available as a bundled extension.

Magento Shipping

From the perspective of Magento Shipping, 2.3.3 includes numerous improvements in such areas as carrier integration, batch-order processing, shipping method preview in the shipping portal, checkout, etc. It also supports bundled products and prepackage options.

Vendor-developed extension

Magento 2.3.3 Open Source offers the following enhancements for third-party extensions:

Amazon Pay is compliant with the PSD2 directive for the UK and Germany;
Dotdigital includes improved product catalog synchronization for bundled and custom products as well as better communications for abandoned carts;
Klarna lets merchants disable the sending of customer information, supports B2B transactions and works with PayBright;
Vertex for Magento 2.3.3 supports Flexible Fields – merchants can provide the tax engine with additional information, provides several attributes by default, lets merchants add custom fields to the Vertex connector;
Yotpo is a user-generated content management platform that is integrated with the admin section of Magento 2.3.3 so that merchants can gather, curate, and manage user-generated content more efficiently.

Import/export

Since Magento 2.3.3 introduced a plethora of import/export improvements (most of them are bug fixes), we’d like to draw your attention to the Improved Import & Export features that are not available by default. Our extension lets you automate all data transfers using schedules. At the same time, you can use presets to map third-party attributes automatically. Another vital benefit of our plugin is the ability to use multiple file formats in addition to CSV. You can even transfer data from Google Sheets or via API. Follow this link for more information:

Get Improved Import & Export Magento 2 Extension

For further information about the new release, check this article: Magento Open Source 2.3.3 Release Notes.

Magento Commerce 2.3.3 Release Notes

As for Magento Commerce 2.3.3, it includes all the aforementioned improvements and fixes plus additional GraphQL features and the following Page Builder enhancements:

Improved inline editing experience with the upgrade to TinyMCE v4.9.5;
The ability to define product order explicitly;
Improved HTML content management for non-technical users.

Magento 2.3.2 Open Source Release Notes

Security

Magento 2.3.2 Open Source includes 75 security enhancements. They help to solve the following issues:

cross-site scripting (XSS);
remote code execution (RCE);
sensitive data disclosure vulnerabilities.

Google reCAPTCHA module for PayPal Payflow checkout prevents malicious targeting of Magento deployments that implement Payflow Pro.

Performance

Another change introduced in Magento 2.3.2 Open Source is a significant improvement to storefront page response time under high load. With enhanced concurrent access to the block cache storage, the response of storefront pages under high load is improved by approximately 20%.

Besides, Magento 2.3.2 Open Source users can leverage the recent product page gallery load optimization. The latest version enables product images to be loaded as quickly as other page elements.

It is also necessary to mention that Magento 2.3.2 includes improved page rendering to improve page performance. The feature is based on deferred loading and parsing of storefront JavaScript. It means that non-critical JavaScript code is situated at the bottom of storefront pages enabling faster page rendering. As a result, store visitors see the complete page sooner while nonessential elements remain inactive.

Infrastructure

Magento 2.3.2 Open Source contains 130 enhancements to core quality of Framework and numerous modules. It is also worth mentioning that

The Braintree payment method is now supported for checkout with multiple addresses;
The CGI URL gateway in the UPS module is updated to HTTPS;
Google chart API updated to the Image-Charts.

Merchant tool

Magento 2.3.2 Open Source now performs a bunch of new tasks as asynchronous background processes. Besides, it sends system messages to alert Admin users about task completion. The following processes are now performed in a background:

Discount coupon generation;
Products mass editing;
Data export.

Inventory Management

Magento 2.3.2 Open Source introduces new commands that enable merchants to discover and resolve reservation inconsistencies. Besides, all users can leverage the improved user interface for assigning sources to products with the following features:

Decimal order quantity;
New test scenarios for Credit Memo;
InventoryGraphQl module with attributes that return correct product quantity information;
Single/multiple products save;
Bulk inventory transfers.

Besides, it is now possible to leverage a new endpoint for Bulk Partial Stock Transfer. The new feature enables bulk transfers for a custom product quantity between sources.

GraphQL

Magento 2.3.2 Open Source includes the following GraphQL improvements:

GraphQL coverage for cart and checkout operations provides support for simple and virtual products. Besides, you can freely add, update, and delete cart items; set shipping and billing addresses (with address book support); set shipping and payment (offline only) method; place an order;
GraphQL caching supports additional queries to improve response times;
GraphQL performance test scenario coverage has been extended.

PWA

Magento 2.3.2 Open Source introduces an improved modular component library for the PWA Studio. From this version, developers can reuse and scale components for frontend needs. A phased rollout for Peregrine functional and data components is another big step. From 2.3.2, the Search component has been updated.

Amazon Pay

Finally, the UK and German merchants can leverage Amazon Pay since it is now compliant with the PSD2 directive for these countries.

For further information about Magento 2.3.2 Open Source, follow this link: Magento Open Source 2.3.2 Release Notes.

Magento 2.3.2 Commerce Release Notes

Security

Magento 2.3.2 Commerce includes 75 security enhancements. They help to solve the following issues:

cross-site scripting (XSS);
remote code execution (RCE);
sensitive data disclosure vulnerabilities.

Google reCAPTCHA module for PayPal Payflow checkout prevents malicious targeting of Magento deployments that implement Payflow Pro.

Performance

Magento 2.3.2 Commerce offers a redesigned checkout page to support customers working with many addresses. Now, it is possible to search addresses instead of listing them on the Select shipping and Billing address steps. Thus, customers with thousands of addresses can benefit from the new feature reducing the time necessary to specify data required for the checkout.

Another notable change introduced in Magento 2.3.2 Commerce is a significant improvement to storefront page response time under high load. With enhanced concurrent access to the block cache storage, the response of storefront pages under high load is improved by approximately 20%.

Besides, Magento 2.3.2 Commerce users can leverage the recent product page gallery load optimization. The latest version enables product images to be loaded as quickly as other page elements.

Infrastructure

Magento 2.3.2 Commerce contains 130 enhancements to core quality of Framework and numerous modules. It is also worth mentioning that

The Braintree payment method is now supported for checkout with multiple addresses;
The CGI URL gateway in the UPS module is updated to HTTPS;
Google chart API updated to the Image-Charts.

Merchant tool

Magento 2.3.2 Commerce now performs a bunch of new tasks as asynchronous background processes. Besides, it sends system messages to alert Admin users about task completion. The following processes are now performed in a background:

Discount coupon generation;
Products mass editing;
Data export.

Inventory Management

Magento 2.3.2 Commerce introduces new commands that enable merchants to discover and resolve reservation inconsistencies. Besides, all users can leverage the improved user interface for assigning sources to products with the following features:

Decimal order quantity;
New test scenarios for Credit Memo;
InventoryGraphQl module with attributes that return correct product quantity information;
Single/multiple products save;
Bulk inventory transfers.

Besides, it is now possible to leverage a new endpoint for Bulk Partial Stock Transfer. The new feature enables bulk transfers for a custom product quantity between sources.

GraphQL

Magento 2.3.2 Commerce includes the following GraphQL improvements:

GraphQL coverage for cart and checkout operations provides support for simple and virtual products. Besides, you can freely add, update, and delete cart items; set shipping and billing addresses (with address book support); set shipping and payment (offline only) method; place an order;
GraphQL caching supports additional queries to improve response times;
GraphQL performance test scenario coverage has been extended.

PWA

Magento 2.3.2 Commerce introduces an improved modular component library for the PWA Studio. From this version, developers can reuse and scale components for frontend needs. A phased rollout for Peregrine functional and data components is another big step. From 2.3.2, the Search component has been updated.

Assistance for BlueFoot to Page Builder migration is a Commerce-specific feature introduced in Magento 2.3.2. The BlueFoot content migration module enables merchants on Magento 2.1.x or 2.2.x with BlueFoot to upgrade to Magento 2.3.1+ with PageBuilder 1.0 with no data losses.

Amazon Pay

Finally, the UK and German merchants can leverage Amazon Pay since it is now compliant with the PSD2 directive for these countries.

For further information about Magento 2.3.2 Commerce, follow this link: Magento Commerce 2.3.2 Release Notes.

Magento 2.3.1 Open Source Release Notes

Magento 2.3.1 Commerce Release Notes

Magento Open Source 2.3.0 Release Notes (Beta)

New features

PWA Studio – a set of tools for the significantly improved development, deployment, and maintenance of progressive web applications: Magento PWA documentation;
Declarative schema – improved installation and upgrade procedures for Magento and extensions.
GraphQL API – an alternative to REST and SOAP web APIs: GraphQL Developer Guide;
MultiSource Inventory (MSI) – manage physical inventory across locations out of the box. Read our review here: Magento 2 Multi Source Inventory;
Amazon Sales Channel – create and manage Amazon listings and fulfill your orders for both Amazon customers and your store visitors.

Core product improvements

Updates to Magento’s tech stack: Redis, MySQL, Elasticsearch, compatibility with PHP 7.2, etc;
Improvements to import and export (but our module is a way more powerful);
Elasticsearch support;
Improvements to release packaging with a faster and more efficient release process;
CMS enhancements with a native Magento WYSIWYG editor or Page Builder for banners;
Performance improvements are represented by JavaScript bundling.
Security enhancements: Cache flush ACL and 2FA/CAPTCHA;
Change in versioning for B2B product that lets matching the versioning of the core product.

Magento Commerce 2.3.0 Release Notes (Beta)

New features

PageBuilder – a new drag-and-drop visual content editing tool that lets merchants customize the appearance of their storefront in a very user-friendly way;
PWA Studio – a set of tools for the significantly improved development, deployment, and maintenance of progressive web applications: Magento PWA documentation;
Declarative schema – improved installation and upgrade procedures for Magento and extensions.
GraphQL API – an alternative to REST and SOAP web APIs: GraphQL Developer Guide;
MultiSource Inventory (MSI) – manage physical inventory across locations out of the box. Read our review here: Magento 2 Multi Source Inventory;
Amazon Sales Channel – create and manage Amazon listings and fulfill your orders for both Amazon customers and your store visitors.

As you can see, the only unique feature is the PageBuilder. Other tools are the same for both Commerce and Open Source editions. As for the core product improvements, they are also similar. For further information, follow these links: Magento Open Source 2.3.0 Release Notes & Magento Commerce 2.3.0 Release Notes.

Magento Commerce & Open Source 2.2.6 Release Notes

Magento 2.2.6 has been just released, so we update this post with the latest data. There are 25 critical enhancements to product security, over 150 core code fixes and enhancements, and over 350 community-submitted pull requests included in the new version of the platform. Of course, it is impossible to describe all of them in this article, but we highlight the most crucial ones as well as provide links for further exploration of Magento 2.2.6.

Note that the provided security enhancements are a preventive measure: no confirmed attacks related to them have occurred to date. However, the reason to provide the update is quite usual: certain vulnerabilities can potentially be exploited to access customer information or take over administrator sessions. We face the same problem from one release to another.

Hope that the security reasons are enough to upgrade your Magento software to the latest version as soon as possible. You can find all the corresponding issues discusses here: Magento Security Center. In addition to 25 critical security fixes, look for the following highlights in this release.

It is also necessary to mention that both Open Source and Commerce editions got the same improvements. The core difference is related to some fixes of the Commerce edition-specific features. Let’s start the in-depth exploration of Magento 2.2.6.

Core code highlights

The Magento 2 platform gets new and new performance enhancements with each release and 2.2.6 is not an exception. Below, you can see multiple improvements in various key areas of the platform.

Substantial Performance Improvements

Let’s take a look at the performance-tuning enhancements focussed on the catalog indexing. They include:

Category product indexer logic has been essentially optimized. Thus, the re-indexing time has decreased up to 98%. It means that now it takes just one minute instead of 40 minutes for 100,000 categories. Previously, stores with huge catalogs were faced almost endless reindexing that could take up to an hour till the process is complete.

The good news about the catalog:image:resize command are available as well! Its execution time has been dramatically reduced! In Magento 2.2.6, it is up to 90% shorter. However, You can achieve such high performance results after implementing some additional steps after upgrading your Magento instance to 2.2.6:
- First of all, it is necessary to remove pub/media/catalog/product/cache . Thus, you will free up some space.
- Next, run bin/magento catalog:image:resize to generate a new image cache. It is necessary because we’ve changed the path to cached images, so must remove the previously cached images.

Another optimization is related to the catalog rule re-indexing. In the new version, the average re-indexing time which also depends on rule conditions has been improved essentially. 2.2.6 offers a more than 80% enhancement to its performance. Initially, this process took more than 20 minutes. Now, a full catalog rule re-index operation on a medium B2C store is 80% faster.

Also, note that the catalog price indexer is now scoped and multithreaded. What does it mean? The performance of layered navigation, search, and indexing actions for Magento instances with multiple websites and stores has been enhanced substantially. Furthermore, it is now possible to parallelize catalog price indexing by websites and customer groups. How can we achieve the new functionality? By adding the MAGE_INDEXER_THREADS_COUNT environment variable to env.php.

And you need much less time to load category or product pages for products that are configured with more than 500 attributes. The core reason for this improvement is the refactored logic for product attribute retrieval. It has resulted in a reduction of the load time of almost 90% for scenarios related to a large number of product attribute sets. In case of a single attribute set deployment with 500 attributes, you won’t notice essential performance improvements. However, deployments with many attribute sets that contain only a few attributes will show noticeable performance bump. Let’s take a look at some numbers to illustrate the new feature. Imagine that you have a deployment with 100 attribute sets. Each set contains at least 50 attributes. In this situation, the performance improvement is significant which results in up to 40-90% reduction of the load time.

We’ve also prepared some good news for merchants whose stores contain the top menu with many categories. The time required to load a store’s home page has been reduced noticeably. But you should remember that the load time is still affected by two factors:
- the number of categories;
- the structure of the top menu.

And you can implement one simple trick to improve your store performance. Disable the Magento Report functionality. You will find the new configuration setting under System Configuration: General > Reports > General Options. The new Magento version allows disabling Magento Reports, which is recommended practice if your business does not require this capability.

Better Checkout

Of course, the checkout functionality has been improved in Magento 2.2.6. Take a look at the following features:

A better usability is represented by the resistance to page reloads. A shopping cart’s content, with which a customer comes to the final stage of buying, remains constant even when the checkout page is repeatedly reloaded. Previously, several checkout page reloads resulted in a completely emptied cart. As a result, the customer could not place the order. This problem primarily affected stores running on HTTPS. Now, you can upgrade to 2.2.6 to make the life of your customers better.

Now, it is also possible to refresh the checkout page without deleting the shipping address during a guest checkout. Previously, when the persistent shopping cart was enabled, refreshing the checkout page wiped out information entered into form fields for a guest checkout.

And the number of available shipping methods no longer affects the speed at which Magento places an order. Previously, this process could last more than 20 seconds if an order for which multiple shipping methods were available was placed. The checkout of Magento 2.2.6 is fast and furious!

Additional Improvements

We should also draw your attention to the fact that configurable products are now sorted by visible prices. Everyone expected this. As for the previous Magento versions, sorting a catalog by price produced sort results that included the prices of out-of-stock products and disabled child products. You must admit that the new feature will make your catalog a way more user-friendly.

And there are no duplicate delete requests resulted by an unstable Internet connection. Previously, unintentional mass deletion of products sometimes occurred as a result of an unstable Internet connection. With Magento 2.2.6, you can forever forget about this problem.

Magento Cloud

A Docker Compose configuration has been added to the Cloud ece-tools repository in 2.2.6. Thus, deploying a local development environment is no longer a problem!
There is also a robust merchant-oriented improvement. It is no longer necessary to export and import the configuration process to change store locales.
Besides, a new workflow that improves the sitemap generation has been introduced in Magento 2.2.6. Now, it lets merchants add a robots.txt file and generate a sitemap.xml file for a single domain configuration without requiring a change to the infrastructure. At such rate, you will soon forget about the necessity to use third-party XML sitemap extensions!
The new SCD_MATRIX environment variable has been added. It reduces the number of theme files necessary for the deployment so that Merchants can now define multiple locales for each theme.
Zero-downtime deployment has been implemented. The basis of this new enhancement is a “connection holding” capability, which ensures no lost connections or site unavailability. As a result, you can provide customers with a smooth shopping experience even during deployments involving database schema changes.
An issue that caused downtime between the deploy and post-deploy phase is fixed as well. Now, the post_deploy phase begins right after the deploy phase ends. No delays occur!

Now, let’s highlight various community contributions and pay a separate attention to fixes that improve checkout flow and the sorting of simple products.

A customer experience is more flexible in 2.2.6 than in the previous versions. Your clients can complete an order when it contains a configurable product with an option that is deleted after the product has been placed in the shopping cart. As you might have already faced previously, it was impossible to load the shopping cart after the configurable option was deleted. Thanks to community member jonshipman! GitHub-15467, you no longer have to worry about this issue.
It is also necessary to mention that Magento 2.2.6 maintains the default sort order for products – which is “newest first” – when the Magento deployment is upgraded. Previously, the situation was the opposite. After the upgrade, the default product order in categories changed from “newest first” to “oldest first”. Thanks to community member Danny Verkade! GitHub-15627, your customers won’t face this trouble anymore.
As a Magento merchant, you can now successfully change the applied theme setting for a store view under Content > Design > Configuration. You can say thank you to community member Daniel Ruf! Here is the improvement: GitHub-14968.
The page load speed in Magento 2.2.6 has been improved since it no longer calculates product taxes when loading category pages. Jeroen proposed the optimisation here: GitHub-14941.

Core Bundled Extensions

When it comes to the core bundled extensions, Magento 2.2.6 offers a lot of new fixes as well. Let’s take a look at each extension.

Amazon Pay

Enhancements to Amazon Pay affect four key areas.

Firstly, it is the implementation of the Magento payment provider gateway. Developers finally have a robust tool for integrating stores with payment providers. This goal can be achieved faster and with the less effort in Magento 2.2.6.
Secondly, the handling of virtual products has been improved as well.
Thirdly, a new entry has been added to the Admin. The new feature allows displaying Amazon Pay in the list of payment options.
Fourthly, Synchronous, if possible and Asynchronous settings for authorization mode are now combined into one setting. Now, there are only two settings in this area:
- Immediate which was previously represented by Synchronous
- Automatic which is a combination of Synchronous, if possible and Asynchronous.

dotmailer

The dotmailer extension has been enhanced in Magento 2.2.6 as well. And we can highlight 4 key areas where improvements are available:

Magento 2.2.6 allows you to request and capture the consent of customers and guests using dotmailer’s new Consent Insight.
The Magento contacts import is much more flexible now. You can import only those contacts who have opted in. For instance, customer, guest, and other subscribers.
And get ready to see a warning alert if you are syncing non-subscribers into a dotmailer account. Thus, you will no longer do that occasionally.
The fourth sphere of improvements is related to the retry process that now results after a failed attempt to access EDC.

Not a huge list of enhancements but some very useful fixes. What else is available in Magento 2.2.6?

Klarna

Enhancements to Klarna include a little bit more features:

The Klarna Payments section has been improved. Now. it includes a link to Klarna automated onboarding and account sign in. You must admit that it slightly improves the usability of the section.
Some good news in the area of fraudulent orders! If an order is identified as such, Klarna will notify you with a request to stop the order from being delivered. Additionally, Klarna will try to cancel the order automatically by sending a notification. You can find more information regarding this feature here: Managing Your Account.
The order management calls have been improved with shipping and discount order lines.
The shipping details workflow has got a new enhancement in Magento 2.2.6. Now, Klarna passes them in capture requests.
Besides, the Klarna API now returns the name and logo URL to use for each payment method. Previously, it was necessary to hard-code the payment method names into the module.

You can also find the full description of the features mentioned above here: Klarna.

Magento Shipping

Perhaps, the most updated area is shipping. The Magento Shipping extension incorporates the following improvements. As a merchant, you can benefit from the new Click & Collect feature that offers the ability to:

Provide the new option as a shipping option to customers, enabling them to directly collect shipments from designated source locations or stores. At the same time, you can still rely on third-party click and collect extensions.
Configure multiple source locations available for Click & Collect pick-ups.
Leverage updates to Shipment Form for UPS (currently, the feature is available for the US only). Note that customers can select Click & Collect locations during checkout. The feature supports workflows and notifications for Click & Collect pick-up, packing, and collection.

Batch Processing provides merchants with several new improvements as well. Thus, you can freely specify and modify packages and experiences for orders assigned to a batch. Next, it is possible to book shipments for a batch. And Magento 2.2.6 allows you to print all packing slips and printing labels for the batch. There is also the new Shipment Reference field that associates bookings between a carrier and a customer.

Magento Social

Unfortunately, the Magento Social Facebook integration has been removed. The extension is no longer supported, but you can always rely on third-party modules.

In addition to the features mentioned above, this release contains lots of fixes. You can view all of them here: Magento Commerce 2.2.6 Release Notes and Magento Open Source 2.2.6 Release Notes.

As you can see, nothing bad has happened to Magento 2 after the Adobe acquisition. Both Open Source and Commerce versions get lots of new features and enhancements. Furthermore, extension providers still have lots of areas that can be improved with their products. And when some old features are eliminated, it is not a reason to panic: there is always a reliable third-party replacement. Even if any new features are implemented, they are usually not as powerful as the existing solutions. The Magento ecosystem is still growing and nothing will stop it!

Magento Commerce & Open Source 2.2.5 Release Notes

Magento 2.2.5 has been released recently and it offers the following improvements for both Commerce and Open Source Editions. For instance, you can leverage the following enhancements after updating your Magento instance:

Multiple enhancements developed to close stored XSS, SQL injection, and CSRF vulnerabilities.
Resolution of issues caused after upgrading to Magento 2.2.4 in deployments that span multiple websites. Now, Magento multi-store installations use the store view-specific values from the store configuration settings.
Performance indexing improvements.
150+ community contributions.
Core bundled extensions enhancements.

As for the performance improvements to the core Magento code, they include:

The ability to run the catalog search full-text indexer and category product indexer in parallel mode by store view. The indexer:reindex execution time is decreased.
Indexing performance improvement up to 15% due to the refactoring of the catalog full-text indexer for profiles with 600,000+ products and catalogs with 5,000+ configurable products and 500+ options.
Improved swatch product attributes behavior leads to the increase of the search result page performance by 31% for catalogs with many configurable product options.

Below, you can see a list of community contributions:

It is possible to create a new customer account from the Order Confirmation page.
Coupon codes that exclude bundle products are applied correctly now. Previously, bundle products were not excluded.
Simple products are sorted by a regular price when catalog promo price rule is applied. The same is about simple products with a required custom option.

The new release of Magento Shipping also includes some important improvements:

Now, merchants can select carriers for returns. Besides, it is possible to send a return label along with forwarding fulfillment.
Batch processing leads to a significant rise in processing a large volume of shipments.
Customers can designate a drop point rather than a residence for delivery by a carrier with the help of collection points.

As for other fixes and improvements, you can discover them here: Magento Commerce 2.2.5 Release Notes and Magento Open Source 2.2.5 Release Notes.

Magento 2.2.4 Release Notes

Magento Open Source 2.2.4 Release Notes

The new Magento 2 version has just arrived. Published on May 2, 2018, Magento 2.2.4 brings lots of features described below. The release includes numerous tools, enhancements, and features. And don’t forget about community contributions. The core highlights are described below.

Highlights

New modules out-of-the-box. Improved tax and shipping calculations right from the cart with the help of Amazon Pay, Vertex, and Klarna Payments.
Magento Shipping and dotmailer improvements.
Performance improvements and numerous fixes and enhancements to core features..
Lots of community contributions.

Enhancements

Below, you can see changes that are not full-fledged features or bug fixes:

The Improved admin global search is now extensible, translatable, and takes the ACL settings for the current user into account.
An automated checker that enforces the short array syntax convention in a new code.
Dedicated payment and shipping debug log files that store functional area-specific information.
The Emogrifier dependency update.
The is_null replacement with strict comparison only for models and block in Catalog, Tax, Sales, and EAV.

dotmailer enhancements

The dotmailer bundled extension also has several important enhancements. You can discover them below.

Enhanced Abandoned Cart report table;
Merchants can design their own transactional email templates;
Better synchronization of subscriber’s sales data;
Transactional emails per the Store level;
Enhancements in the area of validation for deletion of cron job CSV files.

You can discover more fixes and improvements here: Official Release Notes.

Magento Commerce 2.2.4 Release Notes

It is also necessary to draw your attention to the release notes of Magento Commerce 2.2.4. The new version was also released on May 2, 2018, and you can find its core features below.

Highlights

The situation with new bundled extensions is just the same as we’ve mentioned above: they add instant and accurate tax and shipping calculations right from the cart with the help of Amazon Pay, Vertex, and Klarna Payments.
Magento Shipping and dotmailer bundled extensions have been updated as well.
Numerous fixes and performance improvements have been introduced with Magento Commerce 2.2.4.
Almost 200 community contributions became a part of the new version.

Enhancements

Not full-fledged features or bug fixes are described below.

The admin global search enhancement leads to a translatable and extensible experience that takes the ACL settings for the current user into account.
The CyberSource payment method has been added to the multi-shipping checkout flow. This is a Magento Commerce-specific feature. The Multishipping module has been improved so that the integration process for other payment methods is more developer-friendly.
The automated Magento checker enforces the short array syntax convention via a new code that complies with all requirements of PSR-2.
Dedicated payment and shipping debug log files have been added. Now, they store information specific to those functional areas.
The Emogrifier dependency update to 2.0.0+.
The is_null replacement with strict comparison only for models and block in Catalog, Tax, Sales, and EAV.

As you can see, the only Magento Commerce-specific improvement in 2.2.4 is related to the CyberSource payment method. As for the dotmailer enhancements, they are just the same as in the Open Source edition:

Enhanced Abandoned Cart report table;
Merchants can design their own transactional email templates;
Better synchronization of subscriber’s sales data;
Transactional emails per the Store level;
Enhancements in the area of validation for deletion of cron job CSV files.

You can discover more fixes and improvements here: Official Release Notes.

Magento 2.2.3 Release Notes

Magento Open Source 2.2.3 Release Notes

Originally, the official release notes for Magento Open Source 2.2.3 were published on February 27, 2018, and updated on March 22, 2018. The 2.2.3 version includes 35 enhancements to multiple key areas including product security, the Magento Admin, shipping changes, and a copyright update.

The key security improvement of 2.2.3 limits the ability to use symlinks for /media and other folders. Thus, the use of symlinks for deployment or in /media may lead to problems with uploading or removing images.

Highlights

Due to numerous security enhancements, 2.2.3 fixed vulnerabilities in cross-site request forgery (CSRF), unauthorized data leaks, and authenticated Admin user remote code execution.
Elasticsearch 5.x is now supported.
The latest USPS shipping changes are supported in the Magento Admin.
Cache management tasks managed through the Magento Admin get a better control system.

Security enhancements

With the Magento 2.2.3 Open Source, multiple security enhancements have been introduced. They fix numerous vulnerabilities. Luckily, no confirmed attacks related to the fixed issues have occurred. See Magento Security Center for more information. All release notes and fixes are available here: Magento Open Source 2.2.3.

Magento Commerce 2.2.3 Release Notes

Magento Commerce updates introduced in 2.2.3 are just the same as in Magento Open Source. Originally, the official release notes for Magento Commerce 2.2.3 were published on February 27, 2018. The update goes back to March 22, 2018. The 2.2.3 version includes numerous enhancements to various key areas. Although the core vector of the update is product security, it also includes enhancements related to the Magento Admin, shipping, and a copyright.

Note that in 2.2.3, the ability to use symlinks for /media and other folders is limited due to security reasons. Thus, the use of symlinks for deployment or in /media may lead to problems while uploading or removing images.

Highlights

Numerous security enhancements of 2.2.3 fixed vulnerabilities in the following areas:
- cross-site request forgery (CSRF)
- unauthorized data leaks
- authenticated Admin user remote code execution.

The support for Elasticsearch 5.x has been introduced in 2.2.3.
The Magento Admin now supports the latest USPS shipping changes.
A better control system for cache management tasks managed in the Magento Admin has been introduced.

Security enhancements

With the Magento 2.2.3 Commerce, multiple security enhancements became a part of the platform fixing numerous vulnerabilities. Luckily, no confirmed attacks related to the fixed issues have occurred. You can find more details in the Magento Security Center. All release notes and fixes are described here: Magento Commerce 2.2.3.

Magento 2.2.2 Release Notes

Magento Commerce 2.2.2 Release Notes

Besides, the update includes 100+ community-submitted bug fixes and multiple pull requests. For any further information, go here: Magento Commerce 2.2.2 Release Notes.

Magento Open Source 2.2.2 Release Notes

Magento 2.2.2 Open Source got the same update. You can check this out for yourself here: Magento Open Source 2.2.2 Release Notes.

Magento 2 Community Edition is renamed to Magento 2 Open Source;
100+ functional fixes and enhancements;
Better static content deployment and generation;
Improved indexing of large catalogs, URL rewrites, and cache tuning;
Performance optimization;
reduction in memory amount required by mass actions;
Advanced multi-language sites functionality.

15 security enhancements + 1 significant functional enhancement;
Remote code execution issue was fixed;
Access control bypass issue was fixed;
Cross-site request forgery issue was fixed;
Improved image resizing.

15 significant performance improvement;
Category page performance enhancement;
Faster configurable products database loading;
Faster price calculations;
Faster stock validation;
Optimized image resizing;
Improved layered navigation performance.

20+ functional fixes and improvements and 1 security enhancement;
Zend framework vulnerability was removed;
Catalog, payment, and sales modules were updated;

New PayPal and Braintree payment features: faster checkouts, lower risks, etc;
Unregistered customers can reorder or add items to an existing order in the Admin without re-entering credit card details;
Redesigned Payment Methods page in Admin;
Slow SQL media queries were removed;
Advanced configurable products management in Admin;
Support for special symbols during CSV import/export;
Two new web API endpoints in the Sales module: easily process refunds from an order or invoice;
Credit memo for particular invoice or order;
Details about refunded items in invoice or order;
More efficient processing of large catalogs.

Multiple bug fixes and improvements;
Support for PHP 7.0.4 and 5.6.5;
MySQL 5.7 compatibility;
2 web APIs for the Sales module.

Several functional fixes and improvements in the area of static assets deployment.

Magento 2.1.0 Release Notes

Magento Community Edition 2.1.0 General Availability has been released recently. And since it includes tons of fixes, enhancements, and improvements, we are here to shed light on them. Check the following update to discover all new features that are now available in Magento 2.1.0.

3 Core New Features Are:

PayPal Enhancements (in-context checkout + saved credit cards: buyers can pay with PayPal without leaving your website site; there is no need to re-enter credit card information in checkout or while reordering items);
Braintree Hosted Fields (sensitive payment information is securely collected, so everyone comply with the simplest set of PCI compliance requirements; checkout layout can be customized; Braintree settlement reports are available right in the Magento 2 admin);
Improved Management Interfaces (better search and improved creation of products, categories, and CMS content).

Security enhancements

On our website, we have a separate post about security vulnerabilities of Magento. You might have read about all these patches that should be installed to protect precise data. Otherwise, malefactors can access customer information or take over administrator sessions. Therefore, it is recommend to upgrade your Magento software to the latest version as soon as possible, since it includes lots of security improvements. And Magento 2.1.0 is not an exception, so hurry up to upgrade your store.

Fixed Issues

Shopping

Problems with the Add to Cart button translation are now fixed: GITHUB-4181;
In case of registered users, a cart returns a complete list of products.
Fixed amount discount can be created for an entire cart.
Cart Price Rules now support coupon codes generation.
Redundant GET requests are no longer performed if there are items in a shopping cart.
Date/time fields now work as expected.
Exceptions are logged in a file under var/report (in default mode).
Cart has been fixed, so rates for custom shipping methods are updated and listed as expected when you change the shipping address: GITHUB-4679.
Reordering a product with a required custom option (type = file) no longer causes an error when opening the shopping cart: GITHUB-4058.
A customer is not logged out after clicking the Go to Checkout link and then clicking the Shopping Cart link.
Discounts have been fixed, so they behave consistently.
Conditions can be seamlessly saved in Create Cart Price Rules.
It is possible to log out with the enabled persistent shopping cart functionality.
Shopping cart shipping estimation has been fixed as well: it no longer fails randomly.
Downloadable products are now supported by Magento 2, so you can easily create them.
It is possible to place an order for an item in case its amount exceeds half of item’s stock.
Maestro credit cards got better conditions: they can pass validation on the app server side.
Click on a swatch and you will see that product images are switched as expected.
After canceling an order with the Worldpay payment method, quotes are no longer lost.
Catalog Price Rules are applied as expected.
The Customer Address tab was also improved. Now, it works as it should.
The same is about the Force Sign-in button.
Shipping_discount_amount is converted to different currencies: GITHUB-2708.

Product

Downloadable products are not only supported, but no longer shown as out of stock on category pages.
Product assigned to more than one website can be saved.
Loading directories that contain products with Swatches perform better.
Simple products support a new row that can be added to a Custom Option of Input Type.
The creation of a configurable product no longer duplicates URL keys.
It is possible to reset a Product Attributes mass update Admin form.
Creating a simple product, you can add custom options. It is possible to save a product after applying an update.
The system allows you to configure a product whose last attribute has a price of zero: GITHUB-3912.
It is possible to left optional dropdown product attributes blank.
Configurable products can be viewed when using sample data.
All product attributes are available in layered navigation.
Entries in the Product Reviews report can be filtered by date.
An existing variation of a configurable product can be updated.
An issue with incorrect or missing scope labels has been fixed (it appeared on the Product Creation/Editing page).
Unexpected calls are no longer made while viewing a product in the storefront.
Correct product prices are displayed on the Configurable product page when catalog prices include tax: GITHUB-2471.
Products > Catalog “Change status” problems were fixed: GITHUB-1559.

Search

Search performance has been improved.
Using fewer than the minimal required characters in a search query no longer leads to a fatal error.
Search input on themes via the Blank theme works as it should: GITHUB-4282.
Synonyms have been also improved: GITHUB-2519.

Checkout

Several address-related issues have been fixed.
Customers save their address as well as add a new address during checkout.
Reorder and Go to Checkout buttons work as expected.
Checkout also works as expected if you purchase products during a persisted session.
Unnecessary redirects to checkout page after Sign-in have been eliminated.
Information about the country selected in the address in the checkout flow is now provided.
Custom customer attributes are saved.
The JavaScript error that occurred when switching between addresses that either contain or don’t contain Region data has been fixed.
Loader disappears after clicking the Place Order button.
An error related to a changed base currency at checkout has been fixed as well.
Opening My Cart page in one-page checkout no longer causes a problem.
The Payflow Pro payment method is fully supported.
The ‘Create an Account’ form also works as it should after checkout has been completed.
Cart price rules for payment method conditions are now applied.

Upgrades and Installation

The contents of the Magento var/session directory are now ignored by system upgrades.
Magento CLI commands can be run without a composer.json file.
A non-default MySQL listen port can be successfully utilized for Magento upgrades: GITHUB-4548, 2735, 4275, 3529.
No data is lost during the upgrade: GITHUB-4054, 3951, 3097, 3249.
Upgrade correctly updates the product version.
Upgrading to Magento 2.0.4 no longer causes issues: GITHUB-3951.
Better installation performance due to compressed packages on repo.magento.com.
Web Setup Wizard can not be run by a user with limited access to the admin.
An exception is no longer thrown after installing optional sample data.
The Magento_CustomerBalanceSampleData module can be successfully installed.
The Component Manager has been also improved. Now, it displays component versions compatible with the version of your Magento software.
The Magento software can be successfully uninstalled after an incomplete installation.
Optional sample data installation issues are fixed.
Integration tests can be run on Microsoft Windows without previous issues.
The magento setup:di:compile command was also improved: GITHUB-3824.
You can manually unselect the DownloadableStaging during installation. This no longer throws a fatal error.
It is possible to install Magento via a setup URL with a port number: GITHUB-2272.
Hyphens and dashes are accepted by the Magento CLI setup:config:set : GITHUB-2700. Running it no longer deletes values in addition to running an update: GITHUB-2852.
Problems with Magento Community Edition 2.0.4 with Sample Data.tar.bz2 were fixed. This 204 MB download now works: GITHUB-4090.
NGINX configuration does not require the MAGE_MODE environment variable as a mandatory server config variable.
.gitignore is now a part of the project package: GITHUB-4358.
All files are now compiled by the setup:di:compile script as expected: GITHUB-2888.
When defined as optional, attribute ‘setup_version’ is missing for the module error: (GITHUB-1493).

For further information on fixes and updates related to bundle products, import/export, messages and documentation, admin, API, and other areas of Magento 2, check this official release notes: Magento 2.1.0 Release Notes.

As for known issues of the new version, the Cart Price rules are not applied to total amount/item conditions: GITHUB-5025.

Magento 2.0.4 Release Notes

Both Enterprise and Community Editions of Magento 2.0.4 include a lot of security enhancements and performance improvements. Download and install the latest software version to ensure that you receive all security enhancements. Implement the new version in a development environment first. After you will confirm that it works as expected, deploy it to a production store.

Bugs fixed in Magento 2.0.4:

APPSEC-1263 – server-side cross-site scripting via a user name during customer registration. JavaScript from a user name can be executed in the admin context and steal some precious data.
APPSEC-1379 – reflected cross-site scripting in the Authorize.net module which has several parameters vulnerable to reflected XSS attacks.
APPSEC-1337 – arbitrary PHP code execution via language packs. If a user installs a malicious language package, an attacker gets extra access to a store.
APPSEC-1377 – password guesses are not limited in admin and customer token APIs providing an opportunity for brute force attempts to guess passwords.
APPSEC-1378 – Web API allows anonymous users to access data about products, promotions, and storefronts.
APPSEC-1303 – encryption keys generated on the Manage Encryption Key page are very weak.

Magento 2.0.1 Release Notes

Bugs fixed in Magento 2.0.1:

A problem with sample data deployment after running “composer create-project” has been fixed.
An issue with reviews has been fixed: no longer someone can edit someone else’s reviews.
The same is about orders: no longer someone can vies someone else’s order details.
Price rule is now applied to a product created via Web API.
An empty file is no longer uploaded to custom option.
Minicart now clears after completing an order with PayPal.
The problem of plugin incorrect calls is fixed as well.
Travis CI builds do not fail anymore (due to authentication).
Custom options related to configurable products are calculated correctly.
In 2.0.1 everything is ok with modifying a category if you use on store view level.
URL rewrites now work correctly for sample data.
The problem of BaseURL in static files is also solved.
UI Form Component supports a customer’s custom attribute of ‘file’ type.
bin/magento setup:upgrade clears cache properly.
And you can freely run category creation from product page with Google Chrome Experiments enabled.
Information related to the country selected in address is now available in checkout flow.
Customer segments no longer prevent page from caching.
And there are no any problems with multi-store implementations related to an imported product with replace behaviour.
Everything is also ok with url_key validation during import.
“Learn More” link for Payments Pro leads to the correct source now.
A JS error does not appear anymore if loading a product grid right after clearing static files and cache.

GitHub requests:

#2519 – synonyms now work with Magento 2.0.
#2675 – admin order creation now worcs correctly when config include Tax In Order Total.
#2471 – the problem of incorrect prices which appeared on configurable product page if catalog prices included tax is now fixed.
#2674 – plugins/interceptors now work with early stage single instance objects.
#2888 – all files are pre-compiled.

Various Improvements introduced in Magento 2.0.1:

Сustomer edit form now works with normal performance.
The same is about swatch module.
A few security-related problems are solved.
The latest USPS API is supported.
The same is about PHP 7.0.2

Magento 2 Community Edition is finally available. The next-generation commerce platform offers the following features and improvements:

Magento 2 Release Notes: Architectural Innovations

The tech stack of Magento 2 Community edition is based on PHP frameworks and efficient coding patterns.
With a modular code base structure, the platform offers fine-grain customizations as well as the ability to easily add new or replace available features.
Service contracts also introduce a major architectural innovation. The new feature provide stable interfaces that ensure seamless upgrades and simplify various code customizations.
As for theming and layout framework, they provide the ability to rapidly change the way your Magento 2 website looks like for the needs of seasonal campaigns, market expansions, or product presentations.
There are also new extensive and more efficient APIs for promotions and taxes. As for the old ones, they were revamped for better integration with third party solutions.
And due to automated testing, the system offers essentially enhanced code quality and accelerated QA process. Consequently, Magento 2 shows much faster time to market than its predecessor.
As for new quarterly releases, merchants can easily implement them adding new functionality to a store.

Magento 2 Release Notes: Performance

In Magento Community Edition 2.0 page load time has been increased significantly due to several client-side optimizations. For instance, optimized work with JavaScript: the system minimizes and bundles the code; compressed images; or improving static content browser caching.
As for server-side improvements, they include integrated Apache Varnish caching with minimal tuning, which leads to much faster performance.

Magento 2 Release Notes: Scalability

Key subsystems for such processes as order management, checkout, or product management now has standalone databases. Combined with the MySQL Cluster support, they enable marvelous scalability.
And after serious backend improvements, Magento 2 enable larger teams to update product, process orders, and perform other tasks simultaneously without reduced performance.

Magento 2 Release Notes: Admin and Business Tools

Magento 2 offers a new intuitive admin interface, which provides the ability not only to manage daily tasks, but to monitor business performance. And it is touch-friendly now!
Besides, everyone can customize and save various Admin panel views. This feature not only simplify daily routine tasks of administrators, but essentially reduce time required for managing products, processing orders, or analyzing customer data.
There is also a new tool for step-by-step product creation which enables faster operations with products.
As for improved product data import capabilities, they speed up the process of sending data up to 4 times.

Magento 2 Release Notes: Marketing Features

The checkout is essentially minimized in Magento 2. Now it is much faster, consists of less steps, and requires minimum information. Registered customers are recognized and offered to check out faster.
Now, it is possible to create an account from the order Thank You page in just one click.
A shopping cart now shows a detailed order summary, including images. Such an improvement encourages shoppers to complete checkout.
Magento 2 features out-of-the-box integration with key payment gateways as well as provides the ability to send payment information from the browser to the gateway in order t improve security.
The system include such themes as Blank and Luma. They allow merchants to create engaging and SEO-optimized shopping experiences faster.

Check this official documentation to find out both fixed and known issues.

2.0.0-RC2

A plethora of bugs have been fixed in Magento 2.0.0-RC2. Below, you will find a full list of improvements.

A problem with video playback on Apple mobile devices (iPad and iPhone) has been fixed.
You might have noticed that Admin panel in 2.0.0-RC was not accessible in case when port was used in URL. Now, this no longer an issue.
Another useful improvement is related to database name. In the previous release it could not be changed after installation process. The problem has been successfully fixed.
In 2.0.0-RC2 it is also possible to save bundle items quantities while working in a wishlist and editing a bundle product. This was impossible in the first RC.
As for the PHP issue related to Text Swatch product attribute creation, it has also remained in 2.0.0-RC.
Mini Shopping Cart resizing is fixed as well.
If you worry about a negative subtotal in a PayPal checkout, it’s time to breathe freely, because the issue has been eliminated.
The same is about an inconsistent credit card validation process.
You might have noticed that in 2.0.0-RC in the full-screen view the Product Gallery did not completely overlay the bottom layer. Now, it is displayed correctly.
Besides, the Product Gallery can be easily opened in the full-screen mode now.
The “+” icon is not shown on a video preview hover anymore.
And the preview is not visible under a video player.
Another improvement is related to swatches. Earlier, the ‘Admin’ field was not required for a new Swatch.
It is also necessary to mention that in 2.0.0-RC not all information was transmitted to PayPal. The problem mainly involved shipping and billing country data. Now it is fixed.
A configurable products attribute issue has been fixed.
Load time of a category page has been improved.
The visible area in Admin was revamped. The space outside has been removed.
There was an issue with the Magento maintenance mode. The system was stuck in case when a backup was created while disabling modules with the help of Web Setup Wizard
Session response in JSON now works correctly.
Out of stock product are no longer displayed on the Magento storefront
Product import with the replaced behavior has been improved.
URL rewrites work as expected. Earlier, rewrites in catalog categories were wrong after URL key in certain cases.
JSON does not replace a normal page anymore when you are trying to delete a category after reset.
The product API with “all” store code now functions properly.
Another fixed issue is related to the misleading system message on invalid indexers.
You might have noticed that a bundle product created via Web API was not visible in 2.0.0-RC. The problem has been fixed now.
Now, it is possible to save more than one configuration for every configurable product with a text swatch attribute.
And there is a proper ‘why an image could not be deleted’ indication in 2.0.0-RC2
Data modification in an export result file has been revamped as well.
With the new update, you can forget about the incorrect behavior of the required checkbox.
An exception is no longer thrown when you are trying to install Magento after you’ve already uninstalled it.
Now, after changing the layout of a CMS page, its design is not replaced with Magento Blank.
CMS pages API now works with store code and CMS blocks API works for multiple websites.
As for XSS Payload, you can easily save it into Admin Panel and it works correctly in a website’s translation table.
You can add a new swatch attribute without any hesitations about errors that previously persisted even after deleting the attribute.
PHP notice is also fixed. In 2.0.0-RC it appeared during the creation of a text swatch product attribute.
If you’ve tried to export data to CSV, you might have noticed a JS error on credit memo view grid. In RC2 it has been fixed.
Now, nobody is redirected to a blank page after canceling the PayPal Express checkout.
And it is possible to checkout with the enabled Persistent Shopping Cart as well as complete the Braintree PayPal Checkout with the empty Street line 2.
All payment methods introduce valuable information in Magento 2.0.0-RC2.

2.0.0-RC

Below, you will find a complete list of improvements introduced in 2.0.0 Release Candidate

Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: Performance

Minimized observer object loading time due to refactored observer classes that satisfy such requirement as single-responsibility.
Enhanced performance of both catalog advanced search and catalog quick search.
Magento framework micro-optimizations.
Better data loading and stores initialization.
Optimized mechanism of CSS and JavaScript minification.
Improved sales rules.
Optimized table rendering and sample data.

Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: Payment methods

eWay payment gateway has been revamped. It supports responsive shared page APIs as well as client side encryption.
PayPal Express Checkout relies on PayPal best practices.
Braintree payment method introduces a new UI .

Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: Checkout

The persistence of a shopping cart.
Customer’s data on checkout.
Improved settings for Terms and Conditions.
New error handling and collect totals mechanisms.
Checkout credit card now has a new form.

Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: Products

Now, it is possible to manage the list of variations via wizard. Alternatively, you can perform this procedure manually.
You can also manage the list of variations based on moving attributes.
Notifications during such processes as product information management; product template set while saving a product.
Mass action update now has the ability to update product data.
Each attribute now has the “remove attribute” button.
Grouped price has been removed from product creation functionality.
Discounts logic relies on the configurable product selected option

Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: CMS

Data grids now have controls and a sticky header.
Data grid filters offer multiple select.
Data grids offers the ability to change the width of a column and supports both inline and bulk inline editing.

Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: WebApi Framework and Framework

API calls support store codes.
It is possible to update Magento to a particular version, enable/disable modules, and use maintenance mode.
Webapi payload processors now have the common interface.
The Search API is situated in the Search Framework library instead of the Search module.
Observer interface now has improved observer classes.
The intl extension is compatible with HHVM.
2.0.0 supports PHP 7.
The generation of catalog images is improved.
It is possible to use the vendor directory for storing Magento code.
URN schema is now supported in configuration files.
Input and modification data in pop-ups has been simplified because of a new Model Windows component.
In Global JS Widgets Library, there is a gallery widget with MVP functionality.
The migration tool is included into Magento CLI.
Data grids support inline editing.
Data grids mass actions have been updated.
Data grids now support export as well as full text search in Admin.
The DesignEditor module has been removed with the related code
Automated API documentation creation is now possible due to the schema generation of the Swagger REST API.
And you can easily generate a page designed to report REST APIs.
Webapidoc module provides the ability to create on-the-fly API documentation. The feature is possible for particular Magento instances.
Inline translation is supported in Magento UI components.
Sales data grid has a new data grid component.
And there is a unified database resource connections interface in 2.0.0-RC.
The escaped string rendering mechanism.
Every Magento JavaScript Component can be extended after it is loaded and before executed.
Such attributes as @remove and @display are now added for handling blocks and containers appearance.
Purge requests can be send for multiple servers.
Deprecated code has been removed from Magento/Framework and modules.
A bunch of independent template hints for both admin and storefront are now a part of the ecommerce platform.
Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: Setup
The Web Installation Wizard was improved in terms of both wording and extensions styles. The Install Components functionality has been added.
Besides, it is possible to control such an important parameter as the access to the setup tool.
Styles are now updated.
Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: Sample Data
Sample data installation has been significantly revamped.
As for the sample itself, it has been updated with color swatches, Product Heros, MAP, as well as based product relations.
Sample data flow has been also updated.
While installing sample data, you can easily to log errors as well as set error flags.

Magento 2 Release Notes 2.0.0-RC: Various improvements

NewRelic integration.
Platinum integration partners now have a dashboard.
Downloadable products UI has been improved, so similar experience with other product types is now possible.
Responsive and localized email templates.
WebApi now offers country list as well as store and currency information.
Multi-actions APIs for discount coupon generation and search.
Filter components can be declared inside the datagrid column definition.
catalog:image:resize console command.
Populating system packages relies on consolidated algorithms during upgrade and other tasks.
Different accessibility improvements have been introduced in 2.0.0-RC.
Enhanced Tax Rule Management.
The default storefront theme is Luma.
Grid store selectors have been refactored and introduce better unification.
Magento UI Library has been also refactored, so it is possible use the ‘lib-‘ prefix in all library mixins now.
As for refactored styles, they provide the ability to reduce log file errors after the execution of static files deployment.
Component Manager introduces improved UX.
Unit tests have better JS and PHP code coverage in 2.0.0-RC.

Magento 2 Release Notes 1.0.0-beta: Framework

1.0.0-beta introduced a new way the method’s return type is derived while the WSDL generation procedure runs.
And it is possible to retrieve a list of endpoints.

Magento 2 Release Notes 1.0.0-beta: Search

Enhanced Data Grids from CMS now have a search field.
Search Indexer interface was implemented in 1.0.0-beta. The same is about XML declaration.
Search module API helps to improve the search functionality.
Product attributes have been changed: they have different weight, and this parameter is set by default.
Full text index has been implemented per each store.
Search API is in the Search module instead of the Catalog.

Magento 2 Release Notes 1.0.0-beta: Various improvements

The infrastructure of the payment gateway has been improved.
The GoogleShopping module has been removed.
Braintree payment gateway integration.
Authorize.net is now back in Community Edition
Fraud status order processing has been revamped.
Checkout sections have data attributes
Magento’s Product grid and Sales module are enhanced with a new grid component.
An account can be created during or right after the checkout.
Coupon code URL works for empty carts.
Admin-icons font has new icons.
Email markup duplication has been eliminated.
Email content management is enhanced with improved footer and header content as well as styles.

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