I am pleased to announce that Qt 5.9 Beta is now released. Convenient binary installers are available for trying out the cool new features coming in Qt 5.9. With this release we are adjusting the release process to make it easier for users to check out the upcoming release conveniently using the online installer.

Qt 5.9, scheduled to be released at the end of May, completes the work started with Qt 5.7 and 5.8 to take Qt 5 to the next level. Compared to Qt 5.6 LTS we have added a lot of new features such as fully leveraging C++11, a new configuration system, new graphics architecture, a new set of Qt Quick Controls, convenient support for Wayland multi-process, Qt 3D, and many, many more. We have also worked hard to improve the performance to be even better across the board, but especially on embedded hardware. Our target is that a Qt application running on Qt 5.9 not only has more features to choose from, but also runs with better performance and increased maturity compared to an earlier version of Qt.

With Qt 5.9 we are slightly adjusting the release process of Qt. After the Beta that was released today we will push out multiple new Beta N releases using the online installer. With the new approach it is easier than before for users to test the features and provide feedback (via bugreports.qt.io). During the beta phase we expect to have new Beta N releases with 1-2 weeks intervals. When the maturity has increased sufficiently we will create a release candidate and then the final release of Qt 5.9.0. These will be made available directly via the online installer, we are not planning publish separate blogs for the subsequent beta releases and release candidates. In addition to binaries, source packages of each beta release are of course also available for those who prefer to build themselves.

I hope many of you will install the Qt 5.9 Beta release(s), test and provide us your feedback to complete Qt 5.9. For any issues you may find, please submit a detailed bug report to bugreports.qt.io (please remember to mention which beta you found the issue with). You are also welcome to join the discussions in the Qt Project mailing lists, developer forums and of course we encourage you to contribute to Qt. You may also want to check out the list of most important new features in Qt 5.9, as well as the new features in Qt 5.8 and new features in Qt 5.7 - in case you are still using Qt 5.6 LTS.

If you do not yet have the Qt online installer, get it from the Qt Account or from the Qt Download page.