[2017-03-06] What You Need to Know About Bitcoin’s Upcoming Code Release

[rytyr]

Bitcoin’s best-known proposed code change isn’t the only one that matters.
The last couple of minor bitcoin code versions saw the gradual release of SegWit, an upgrade that has occupied the community’s attention as of late. The code change could have a beneficial impact in many ways and by most accounts, but because of reservations expressed by miners and other stakeholders, it's unclear if and when it will activate.
Despite the standstill, developers are quietly improving bitcoin in other ways.
The upcoming release – version 0.14.0 – is composed of performance boosts and long-in-the-making code shuffles that could pave the way for future upgrades. It'll be made available once a trial version successfully withstands testing by Bitcoin Core contributors.
Article

[Papa Bear]

bitcoin transactions are sometimes slow to be added to the blockchain, as there's limited room in each bitcoin block. And, since miners have some choice over which valid transactions are packaged into each block, they're more likely to include transactions with a higher fee.