The reason for this is, that Duplicati 2.0 became more and more stable in 2015, but we introduced some new features at the same time. The new featuires were a bit shaky, so we did not want to release them. Due to that, we did not release any updates via the built-in auto-updater for a few months and some people already asked if the project was still alive :-)
We want to change this. We want to provide you with stable versions, but we also want to provide you with new features to try out. That is why we decided to support multiple update channels. Update channels allow you to decide yourself what you want. Do you want a stable release to get a safe backup? Or are you curious? Or do you want to support the developers with testing and feedback? Now you can decide yourself. Here are the channels we will make available:
* Stable. As soon as we think Duplicati 2.0 is stable this channel will provide you with the stable releases of Duplicati. As Duplicati 2.0 is not called stable yet, this option is currently missing.
* Beta. Versions in this channel are currently tested and might become stable soon (whatever that means). It’s likely that there are errors but no serious issues are expected.
* Experimental. Versions published here show off new features. Serious errors might be present in this version. Do not use this to run real backups!
* Canary. These versions are meant for developers who want to see their work in an official build. It is very likely that these versions break your installation or backups. Do not use this to run real backups! If you want to contribute to development by testing new versions, this is the channel to go for. :-)
You can select the channel under “settings”. At the moment, the channel “stable” is not yet available as we do not want to call Duplicati 2.0 stable yet. Currently the main updates go to “experimental”. As Duplicati 2.0 seems to be in a good shape, we might switch to “beta” as default channel soon.
