The new and improved Umbraco 13 is here!
Umbraco 13 LTS Release
Umbraco 13 was released the 14th of December 2023, and it did take me about 2 days to make time for it in my schedule, and another 1 day to upgrade, test and deploy my website KindbergCo.se... it was so worth it!
When I made my previous upgrade to Umbraco 11, I thought it could not get much faster. I'm happy to have been proven wrong, as Umbraco 13 is cutting loading speed on an already quick website. Fast loading speeds result in better SEO and improved sales/lead generation, as content is delivered quickly and efficiently to the prospects.
Umbraco 13 is an LTS (Long Term Support) version, meaning that you are guaranteed that the version is supported for 24 months, followed by a 12-month security phase. This way, it is easier for you to plan your upgrades and have peace of mind knowing that you don’t have to upgrade your projects anytime soon - unless you really want to :)
Peace of mind is not the only thing Umbraco 13 ships with - you also get a bunch of cool features and improvements:
Whats new in version 13?
- Upgraded tech-stack: An update to .NET 8 with C# 12 so you can take advantage of all the latest technologies from Microsoft
- Minimal Hosting Model: Simplifies application initiation, speeds up loading times and aligning with Microsoft's latest standards.
- Updated NuGet Dependencies: Including an update to ImageSharp for better performance and security.
- Enhanced Media Delivery API: Improved headless media delivery with necessary breaking changes for a more efficient media experience.
- Webhooks: Enhanced headless capabilities with no-code/low-code Webhooks
Is the upgrade worth it?
As with many things in life, the answer is "it depends".
The main reason for upgrading is the Long Term Support, meaning that this version will be supported by Umbraco and Microsoft for 24 months + another 12 months of security patches.
Though upgrading today, 6 or 12 months from now is not certain.
If you are running:
Umbraco <8
It's time, just upgrade!
Umbraco 9
Depends on your business needs.
If you care about SEO, the improved speed provided by Umbraco 13 will give your website a significant boost. From a usability perspective, fast websites are more usable, sells more products and generates more leads on average compared to slower sites.
Apart from this, there are not too many goodies.
The upgrade may be somewhat expensive, as there many technical differences between version 9 and 10.
Umbraco 10 - 12
The main reason for upgrading is again the speed, which will boost your SEO and usability of your web site.
If speed is not a concern, then waiting 6-12 months may be a good option. However, the upgrading should be very cheap, given the similarities of the versions.
For example, it took me 8 hours to upgrade, test and deploy my own website from version 11 to version 13.
