The OpenCms 6.0 alpha 3 binary distribution, including extensive demo modules and support for Java 1.5.

OpenCms 6.0 features numerous enhancemens over version 5.0.x such as:

• Improved content galleries (new in alpha 3)
• Support for Java 1.5 (new in alpha 3)
• XML content features for structured content
• Management of multiple websites
• Enhanced multi-language and Unicode support
• ACL based permission system
• Integrated full text search (also searches inside Word, Excel, PDF Documents)
• "Direct Edit" feature
• WYSIWYG support in Mozilla browser
• ... and much more

The source code for this release is available in the public CVS, please refer to the Development section on how to obtain it.

Who should use this 6.0 alpha 3 version?

This is an alpha version. Please don't expect it to be perfectly stable. One of the most important Open Source philosophies is "Release early, Release often", and this is what we intend to do with this and subsequent 6.0 releases. If and how you should use this version depends on what your goals are:

• If you are currently using any previous 6.0 development release (e.g. 6.0 alpha 2), you should upgrade to this new version.
• If you are an IT professional or a company working with OpenCms on a regular basis, you should definitely check if and how your current websites, modules and functions can be ported to the new release. Even though changes on the Java API level and changes on the DB schema are to be expected until we reach the beta or even release candidate state of the development, most of the big changes have already been made.
• If you start a new project that is expected to go live in about 3 months, you may use this version to build your project - but be prepared for some extra work to update when new releases become available, and also for some time figuring out the so far undocumented features if these are required.
• If you are working on a project with OpenCms 5.0.x that has a delivery date soon, you should stick to the 5.0.x version unless you absolutely require a feature of the 6.0 version.
• If you are running a website based on OpenCms, and you plan to implement some new features in the not so far future, you should install this version on a test machine and check out the new features.

Please refer to the 6.0 alpha 3 release notes (included in the distribution) for a full list of features as well as open issues with this release.