Dolphin 8 Sundance Alpha - Private Preview

Over 3 years ago we started talking about Dolphin 8 specifications and design architecture. Let’s just say that the ideas we had in mind turned out to be a lot more challenging than we thought, plus we decided to up the ante.

We did not want to cut corners or put out a product just for the sake of a sales-bump. Instead, the team was challenged to create something we’d be proud of, something we could build upon for decades ahead and something that would make community sites actually work.

Today, for the first time in years we have a package that can be installed, tested and isn’t too far from the final release stage. This is, literally, a homestretch. Dolphin 8 is coming!

What’s in 8? What’s with 7?

Since there’s no “public” D8 package yet, we decided to postpone any feature announcements. Dolphin 8 is incredibly advanced, exciting and forward-thinking. It has also been vastly improved from the time we’ve been showing preview videos a couple of years ago, with a lot of time devoted to “mobile” side of things. Details will come along with the public package.

Dolphin 7 development is going to continue. We have been working on 7.2 and plan to release it sometime soon. Since a lot of improvements have been made in 7.1 we see it as a mature product that will hold its value for years ahead. It may take a good while for Dolphin 8 ecosystem to catch up to Dolphin 7 and even then, they’re likely to be intended for different purposes. We’ll elaborate on this in D8 public package announcement, but the rule-of-thumb would be “If Dolphin 7 looks like a good match for your idea, don’t wait for Dolphin 8”.

How to test? Where to download?

At this stage we’re sparing you from the burden of encountering the first-row issues. Preview is being privately sent to only a few, most “stoic” members that hopefully would be able to help us fashion a more polished version for a broader preview round. Meanwhile, we are going to start posting about Dolphin 8 again. We hope Providers would be tracking the progress closely, in preparation for Dolphin 8 modules/extensions development.

And so the big fun, finally, begins!