Drupal 8 is now available as a release candidate (RC). An RC is like a sneak preview you can use. It's not a final release—that’s coming soon, and there may be another release candidate before then. But its code and interface should feel stable now. You can install it, start designing for it, create and build with it, and extend and improve it. That means you can start putting Drupal 8's more than 200 new features and improvements to work today.

Get Drupal 8.0.0 RC2

A first look at Drupal 8's features

With Drupal 8, the world's best content management framework just got better. Every built-in theme is responsive. Every single component is translatable out of the box. More elements have configurable fields and there are new field types for better content modeling.

It’s built people-first. The authoring experience is better, with features like in-context editing and enhanced previews. It's easier to add people-friendly meaning via native schema.org markup. There's extensive support for accessibility standards.

Drupal 8 also has all the geekery you can Git. All-new configuration management (full exports, easier transitions between environments) means safer, faster site development and maintenance. REST-first native web services enable 3rd-party integrations. And adding Twig is the most complete transformation of Drupal theming in a decade. It allows friendlier syntax, better security, and a separate presentation layer.

Organizations are using Drupal 8 now

There are thousands of Drupal 8 installations already up and running. Goal Gorilla, Amazee Labs, Gravity R&D, and DrupalNorth joined drupal.com as some of the earliest Drupal 8 adopters. France Télévisions, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and CH2M have chosen Drupal 8 too. The list of sites built with Drupal 8 is growing and growing.

Your organization could be next. Have questions before getting started? Check out answers to some frequently asked ones, and read RC2’s release notes.

Feedback welcome

Sharing feedback is important. It's part of the open source spirit. It's what pushes the Drupal community forward. And it's what will get Drupal 8 from RC to a full version release. If you find bugs while using an RC, let the community know.

To join the social conversations about the RC phase, use #drupal8rc. To mention and find conversations about work already made with Drupal 8, use #madewithd8.

A great big thank you

This RC phase wouldn't have been possible without our community. Its contributions, its diligence, and its patience created something special. To everyone who’s helped and will help, even if you're not in the Drupal 8 hall of fame, thank you.

Drupal 8: make something amazing, for anyone.

Personal blog tags: drupal8rc