WordPress 6.5 beta 2 has been released today, the final version is scheduled for release on 26 March 2024. Here's the schedule for the development cycle.
6.5 is the first of three major releases scheduled for 2024, followed by 6.6 in July and 6.7 in November.
As always, in addition to testing all the betas, as is mandated, I stop to look at one of the aspects that interests me most, performance.
According to WordPress, version 6.5 will come with over 110+ performance-related updates, including an impressive increase in speed and efficiency in both the post editor (always welcome improvements here) and the site editor. They claim that loading is twice as fast as in version 6.4, and entry processing speed is almost four times faster than in the previous version. Also that you will be able to navigate the site editor six times faster than before. Sounds good.
Another interesting improvement will be in the loading time of translated sites, which will increase thanks to the merging of Performant Translations into the core. This is supposed to improve the loading time of translated sites across the board by loading multiple locales simultaneously, which will make switching between them a faster and more pleasant experience.
To test this beta 2 you can do so by installing it via WP-CLI, downloading the 6.5 Beta 2 version to install it manually or on existing installations from the WordPress Beta Tester plugin, but always on a test installation, never on a production site, and then choose the "Early Development" and "Beta/RC Only" channel.
