Hi all,
I did a quick search but didn’t find the answer, surprised that no one else has asked!?
As I’m still using Blender v2.78c … should I consider upgrading to 2.8 now? I’ve read that none of the modifiers are working yet ( post on another forum was a few weeks old though ). I understand that version 2.8 is still under heavy development, all I really need right now are the basics working OK’ish as I’m only a novice ; )
I’m just dying to get to grips with all the new features in 2.8 
TURK
short answer: no.
long answer: download the latest build and play around with the new features. It’s no problem to have 2.79 and 2.8 at the same time on your machine. So you can do all your projects in 2.79 but from time to time open 2.8 and see what you can achieve there. Maybe import old projects to try out Eevee
First, you can upgrade to 2.79b. 
Using blender 2.8 could be quiet tricky because still there is a lot of stuff being changed every day under the hood, so files saved one day, can not work properly with next build. I do it that way: I have 2.79b installed and I have a master build from 2.79 on the desktop to render (CPU+GPU) and 2.8 just to open project with it and see how it look, what can I di with it etc, but I never save file with 2.8.
2.8 modifiers and animation work again. It’s unstable and crashes a lot. It’s worth experimenting with. No physics or simulation right now. I am using 2.79 for modelling and trying things daily in 2.8.
Because compatibility can break I’d do modelling in 2.79 and then open things in 2.8 to try out eevie etc… save 2.8 projects as their own version and be prepared for breakage if you try and open the files from 2.8 in older versions of blender… be prepared to lose work from build to build with 2.8
Usually you can append data from a blend file into any other version safely though.
Great preview demos are on YouTube already. If you are rendering an animation it may already be worthwhile to use 2.8
You can even download the Master before the 2.8 is moved to it, so that you can have those features that are not in 2.79b. But yes I don’t think Blender 2.8 is ready for a complete real project unfortunately, and if I remember well, the 2.5 wasn’t ready before a long time, so even if the code quest helps a lot, I don’t know if it will completely ready.
Excellent, many thanks for the quick response guys, very much appreciated.
I kinda suspected you would recommend upgrading to 2.79b, but I was at odds of skipping that as the development of the new 2.8 is flying! every day something new, and something working! ; )
Great idea running both versions on the same system I hadn’t even considered that.
Been reading and watching all the youtube videos on the progress of the development, and the new features due in 2.8 … the inclusion of the metric system ( as opposed to the usual Blender ‘Scale’ ) is a stroke of genius ! As I’m using it for product design accurate dimensions are a must.
I understand now why Blender doesn’t over-write the previous version on your system, wish more software developers would do the same, so if things were to ‘break’ on your upgraded version you could always revert back to the previous version still on your system.
Many thanks guys, I’ll download both versions … at least this way I can familiarise myself with the new UI 
TURK
Hi Guys,
I thought I would finish off this thread with an update, in case it helps other newbies decide on what is the best approach. As all of you guys rightly recommended that we use the latest ‘stable’ version, and install the all new 2.8 version that seems to be absolutely awesome btw! … so that’ what I did
It’s pretty straight forward actually. Install 2.79b as you would normally do, run it, make sure you can open your files and that everything works. Then download and install 2.8 and create another shortcut on your desktop, rename that shortcut to ‘Blender 2.8’ on desktop … now you can run both versions 
One thing I did notice when opening one of my old files with 2.8, it didn’t actually load the ‘Madcaps’ that were in the file! Would I have to re-create the MadCaps for 2.8 does anybody know? I do know that 2.8 now has the all new customisable MadCaps … so maybe that’s the issue here.
Also I would also highly recommend following the ‘Blender 2.8 Code Quest’ by Pablo Vazquez on YouTube. Not only will you know what the all the new features are ( or will be ), but if they’re actually working or not.
As I always want to contribute to the community but don’t really know enough about this yet, this is my little bit 
So, many thanks guys, works a treat.
TURK
currently, i has to say you should wait, because blender 2.8 is very unstable.
The build released on the 10th has been the most stable version I’ve used yet, going from something fun to play around with for a few minutes until it crashes, to actually able to spend a significant amount of time with it experimenting with the new features.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone jump in and start using it as their primary modeler as of yet, but from my experiences, it’s reached the point where you can goof around with it without too much worry.
Yup, totally agree guys.
Anyone else reading this post with the same question … should I ? shouldn’t I ? DON’T
Stick to the latest stable release 2.79b as your ‘primary’, and maybe install 2.8 to ‘Goof’ around with as Renzatic says
My only concern was ( which was the origin of my question ), as a relative newcomer to Blender, would I have to re-learn the newer 2.8 version? I’m still trying to get to grips where things are in 2.79b, where various tools can be found and what they do, undoubtedly, I will have to re-learn all of this when 2.8 becomes stable enough to use on a daily basis … but that’s the price we have to pay for perfection.
And that’s also the reason why it’s an excellent idea to install both versions, so you can familiarise yourselves with the all new user interface.
TURK
2.8 = stay away from it, especially for serious production. Still unstable (just watch blender code quest progress videos) Keeps crashing often. Additionally interface is still in constant development (even shortcuts). So unless you want to experiment, leave it alone
2.79b = use this one . Principle Shader alone is a good reason to use it.
The ‘Blender Code Quest’ is superb! I’m following it as if I were part of the team!
Actually seeing the development in progress and just how much work those guys are doing, is amazing … genius’s, all of them.
I don’t even know what the ‘Principle Shader’ is or what it does Grzeiek! But I do think that the ‘Cycles’ renderer is reason enough to be using 2.79b ( even though it was in the previous version as well ). EEVEE looks awesome, can’t wait to learn all this stuff … but little steps at the moment.
Maybe one day I’ll be able to accomplish works of art like you guys
TURK
i`ve been using blender 2.8 as main since last week. View port is much faster and most of things works fine. The downside for me is that add-ons and render farms are not supported.
I’m using 2.79 for learning Blender because of the stuff in 2.8 isn’t there yet, like add-on support. The shader editor seem useable in 2.8 - so I use that to learn shading. Coming from Modo, Blender is a nice change.
2.8 is a work in progress Blender.
Every day, developers are making changes. And developers are humans who can make mistakes.
They are doing lots of reviews before committing changes to avoid big problems.
But there will always be a probability that a mistake, who could potentially destroy your mesh or material or completely corrupt a .blend file to the point of no longer being able to open it in a stable release, could pass despite reviews.
Before a stable release like 2.79, there is a period of freezing of new features and bugfixing only.
But bugfixes are also changes that can also become mistakes. This is why there are corrective releases like 2.79a, 2.79b.
So, currently, using 2.8 is at your own risks. if your work is destroyed by 2.8, you should not complain.
I don’t recommend to directly open a 2.79 .blend file with a 2.8 build.
What is safe is to copy your 2.79 .blend file and rename it with a 2_8 suffix or prefix, first.
Because incompatibility could create problem in other direction, too.
Opening a experimental 2.8 .blend file with a 2.79 blend file could corrupt it.
Compatibility between official stable releases is assured as much as possible.
But it is not the case for experimental daily test builds.
There is no doubt that there will be a compatibility between 2.79 and 2.8x first stable release.
But actually there is no official 2.80 release.
At the moment I still do my work in 2.79, but I use the Principled shader and render in 2.8 Eevee whenever possible, but too many things still broken in 2.8 to switch IMHO!
but not in edit mode like subdivision surface modifer or do I miss something?
No. you did not miss something. They don’t work in edit mode. They are working in object mode.
But this simple fact means that armature modifier is taken into account in object mode and animations by armatures can be rendered in 2.8.
It’s already november and a lot lot happened in B2.8.
Who can recommend to work in B2.8 fully or at least provide the experience for working on a bigger project?
Regards
Well, I have finished two interiors for my clients (one was 5 room, another was 6 rooms) and I must say that the only things that I was missing were importing DXF CAD (addon) files and archimesh (addon). Modeling, texturing, lighting I was doing with almost no problems - except simulating cloth for curtains - it was very slow and I had to do it in 2.79 and append it to 2.8.
