Getting ready for Drupal 10

Since Drupal 8, the dependencies with Symfony and other third-party components ─ CKEditor, Twig, etc. ─ imply a change in the release dates and methodology. Despite a temporary less predictable releases plan, the consequences are very positive for Drupal. We can underline some of the main advantages:
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Upgrades to newer version are much simpler and less expensive;
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The newer versions will be more stable, right from their release date;
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Drupal is more powerful than ever with all those third-party components that provide a technological leap forward.
Here is what you should know and do if your Drupal instance is on...
Generally speaking, if you anticipate those major upgrades, it is usually possible to decide on which yearly budget to do the upgrade as it’s possible to postpone the upgrade for a few months.
And for the future?
It’s difficult to provide precise and safe predictions as the future mostly depends on decisions and evolutions that will happen… in the future.
What we can expect is:
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Less expensive major upgrades as mentioned above: likely upgrades from 9 to 10 will cost even less than from 8 to 9.
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For version 11, it is too early to say anything about the timing and costs. For example, it is not yet known whether Drupal 10 will be based on Symfony 5 or 6, which could significantly change its lifespan.
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Potentially a higher cost of regular maintenance (minor/security updates).
Indeed, the major change is that the next version is built inside the current version. By the time the new version is launched, the current version will be close to the new one, provided that the minor updates have been made.
To learn more
Here are a few interesting resources we invite you to read:
What is different about CKEditor 5 compared to CKEditor 4?
https://www.drupal.org/about/core/policies/core-release-cycles/schedule
Drupal 10 | Gábor Hojtsy on Drupal