At Oracle, we constantly look for ways to improve our products to better fit your needs. We are excited to introduce MySQL Innovation and Long-Term Supported releases, which is an important improvement in the MySQL versioning model.

The patch releases of MySQL 5.7 and previous releases were focused on bugfix and security patches. That changed in MySQL 8.0 with the continuous delivery model in that patch releases also contained new features. That allowed MySQL to release new features to users more frequently rather than only being able to release features every few years. However, we understand that this approach can cause challenges for projects and applications that require only critical patches with less frequent behavior changes. We listened to your feedback and observed industry trends, and we are now transitioning to a versioning model where you can choose between Innovation and Long-Term Support (LTS) releases.

Both Innovation and LTS are production-grade quality. If you desire access to the latest features and improvements and enjoy staying on top of the latest technologies, the MySQL Innovation releases might be the best fit for you. These releases are ideal for developers and DBAs working in fast-paced development environments with high levels of automated tests and modern continuous integration techniques for faster upgrade cycles. On the other hand, if your environment requires established behavior, then the LTS releases are the way to go. These releases contain only necessary fixes, so they reduce the risks associated with changes in the database software’s behavior.With the new MySQL versioning model, you have the flexibility to select the option that suits your specific application and environment needs. Our goal is to ensure that you have an exceptional user experience with both Innovation and LTS releases. You can discover additional information about the new versioning model and the transition process below.