At this point, could we have a reminder of the upgrading options & costs for current 1.* license holders? 😊 Is there a point to renewing a 1.* license at this stage for the purpose of upgrading to 2.1 or does it not provide any cost benefits?
This is covered in the EE 2 Beta FAQ:
What’s happening with Download Accounts?
Basically if you upgrade from EE 1.x to EE 2.1 an active Download Account status is taken into consideration, just like it is now with EE 1.x to EE 2.0 Beta. We haven’t decided for certain if EE 1.x licenses that do not upgrade will need to continue to renew the Download Account in order to have download access. Right now we’re leaning that direction though.
It may be more accurate to say EE 2.x will not make use of Download Accounts, though Download Accounts may continue for EE 1.x licenses that are not upgraded. We’ll have made that decision by 2.1’s release.
Also, can you comment on whether an import option for Galleries will exist in 2.1 (and, if so, if Channels are getting any more functionality to make managing galleries easier)?
In terms of features, EE 2.0 and EE 2.1 are nearly identical. The purpose of the beta was to make sure the core system is stable, secure, and performs as expected. All work has been toward those goals. This means all critical bugs are squashed, reported stability and performance issues addressed, and security vetted. We’ve also done a lot of work based on add-on developer feedback to mature how third-party add-ons work with 2.x.
We’ll be addressing import options for the Gallery and feature improvements post 2.1 which is why, like everyone else, we’re excited that the beta cycle is nearing an end. The Gallery import options will be free. And yes, we know this will be frustrating for certain types of EE sites and I apologize for that.