Bitcoin Core: Which version should I use?

[tiffy]

BT forum shows 27.0 as the latest release. But 27.1 has already been released. Two days ago 26.2 was released.

Why is a subversion still being released in the 26 branch when 27.1 has already been released?

What is best to use if you have no special requirements?

[Felicity_Tide]

BT forum shows 27.0 as the latest release. But 27.1 has already been released.

Of course, achow101 has created a thread for v27.1 and it's currently stickied on the Bitcoin discussion board: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5500225.0

Two days ago 26.2 was released.

Why is a subversion still being released in the 26 branch when 27.1 has already been released?

This I can't tell, as am still surprise as well. Just checked bitcoincore.org, and it seems true. I believe a review will come up soon on the forum.

[Charles-Tim]

It is 27.1 on the official website.

If you click on 27.0 on this forum beside its torrent file download, it will take you to the official website. The Windows, macOS and the Linux versions are all 27.1. Only the torrent is 27.0. Why not download it from the official site.

https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

I hope this forum will update what are necessary as well.

[Felicity_Tide]

It is 27.1 on the official website.

If you click on 27.0 on this forum beside its torrent file download, it will take you to the official website. The Windows, macOS and the Linux versions are all 27.1. Only the torrent is 27.0. Why not download it from the official site.

https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

I hope this forum will update what are necessary as well.

Okay, you are right. I just did, and realized that the 27.0 written above actually takes me to downloading 27.1 instead.

[BlackHatCoiner]

What is best to use if you have no special requirements?

Anything from 22.0, when Taproot was activated, and onwards would be fine.

Why is a subversion still being released in the 26 branch when 27.1 has already been released?

Because someone might prefer 26, while its 26.x version is problematic (i.e. has bugs). So, it's released with bugs fixed. Why would you prefer 26? Well, there might be an update in 27.0, which removed compatibility with something your software might depend on.

[tiffy]

Well, there might be an update in 27.0, which removed compatibility with something your software might depend on.

Yes, that makes sense. Perhaps the legacy wallets are no longer supported. Or the option to import non-HD wallets. Although I don't read anything about removed functionality in the release notes of 27.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Yes, that makes sense. Perhaps the legacy wallets are no longer supported. Or the option to import non-HD wallets. Although I don't read anything about removed functionality in the release notes of 27.

In 27.0, file mempool.dat is written in a new format:

The mempool.dat file created by -persistmempool or the savemempool RPC will be written in a new format. This new format includes the XOR’ing of transaction contents to mitigate issues where external programs (such as anti-virus) attempt to interpret and potentially modify the file.

This new format can not be read by previous software releases. To allow for a downgrade, a temporary setting -persistmempoolv1 has been added to fall back to the legacy format.

If your software relies on the old format, then you should upgrade to 26.2, and then, once you find the time, re-write it so that it can support the new format. (If you think it's necessary.)

This is one such example.

[Forsyth Jones]

This I can't tell, as am still surprise as well. Just checked bitcoincore.org, and it seems true. I believe a review will come up soon on the forum.

Nobody knew about this new version v26.2, but I'm on version v27.0, so OP, why not use the latest one?

Bitcoin Core is stable software, so versions released in a short space of time won't have much of a difference, other than minor bug fixes, but always read the changelog for more details on the version you are downloading.

But anyway, I don't recommend downloading from version v23 downwards, always download the latest releases and follow the release notes.

Yes, that makes sense. Perhaps the legacy wallets are no longer supported. Or the option to import non-HD wallets. Although I don't read anything about removed functionality in the release notes of 27.

If you have a legacy wallet, you can migrate it to the new descriptor format, so your private keys from the legacy wallet will be included in the new master key pair, so you must make a new backup to keep your wallet updated. You can still load legacy wallets.

Remembering that we can't confuse legacy wallets with non-HD, as both legacy wallets and descriptors are HD (hierarchical deterministic) wallets. HD means that addresses are generated by the BIP32 master key infinitely deterministically, the generated addresses always belong to the master key.

[Cricktor]

Why is a subversion still being released in the 26 branch when 27.1 has already been released?

Because former branches like v26 are still supported and haven't reached end-of-life. So, important bug fixes are backported to those versions and subversions are still released.

Why do you care when you don't have special requirements?

What is best to use if you have no special requirements?

I would grab the highest version available on https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/ which is also the link target of forum's News: Latest Bitcoin Core release. Apparently theymos or who's able to change the News line doesn't care too much to keep the numbers current.

[tiffy]

If your software relies on the old format, then you should upgrade to 26.2, and then, once you find the time, re-write it so that it can support the new format. (If you think it's necessary.)

I understand. I have already switched to version 27 on my full node. I seem to remember that a conversion was running when I started version 27 for the first time. Thanks for the hint.

Why do you care when you don't have special requirements?

I was a bit worried that I might have switched to the 27s too early. But that was unfounded. In some projects, the odd version numbers are development versions and you should only use the even version numbers for example. This goes back to the old Linux kernel. These things still stored in the back of my mind. Sorry and thanks for the explanations. I will simply always use the latest version of the Core Client.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

BT forum shows 27.0 as the latest release. But 27.1 has already been released. Two days ago 26.2 was released.

Why is a subversion still being released in the 26 branch when 27.1 has already been released?

What is best to use if you have no special requirements?

Don't rely on the forum for update information on Bitcoin Core version. You can always get a newest version from https://bitcoincore.org/en/download/

Remember to verify your download, with detailed instructions from that website too.

It is 27.1 on the official website.

There is no official website for Bitcoin that is decentralized from websites, wallet download sources and network. Just verify your download, don't trust on any website like official one.

[NotATether]

You should always use the latest major version of Bitcoin Core unless you have a special reason why you can't use it, for example if the new version removed some JSON-RPC calls that you rely on and you haven't migrated to the new syntax yet.

[gmaxwell]

The most recent version is the version the foremost experts on the software think you ought to be running, otherwise it wouldn't exist.  So unless you've got a really good reason to do otherwise, that's what you ought to be running.

Revisions of old major numbers are primarily useful for parties that are carrying patches against their nodes or require qualification for new versions that might have changed behavior in incompatible ways, so that they can more rapidly deploy fixes.  It might take them longer to forward port their patches to the new major version or to test it against their usage.  If you're in one of those situations you'll know it.

[ABCbits]

Why do you care when you don't have special requirements?

I was a bit worried that I might have switched to the 27s too early. But that was unfounded. In some projects, the odd version numbers are development versions and you should only use the even version numbers for example. This goes back to the old Linux kernel. These things still stored in the back of my mind. Sorry and thanks for the explanations. I will simply always use the latest version of the Core Client.

In that case, you might want to read https://bitcoincore.org/en/lifecycle/.

It is 27.1 on the official website.

There is no official website for Bitcoin that is decentralized from websites, wallet download sources and network. Just verify your download, don't trust on any website like official one.

He's not wrong though, since he refer to official website for Bitcoin Core (full node/wallet software) rather than Bitcoin (cryptocurrency).

[snerd]

I’m on 27.1 and upgrade each new release. Only takes a few minutes.

ETA I have inbound connections enabled and host around 115 on average