Joomla 2.5 was released on the 24 of January which is the official release after Joomla 1.7
The new features include:
Joomla Smart Search
Smart search offers a faster, more user-friendly search experience for your visitors. It features auto-completion, which allows the user to find relevant content by just typing the first several letters of a word.
Multi-Database Support
Multiple database support makes it possible to run the Joomla on many different databases types other than MySQL and MySQLi. This facilitates integration and update management processes. Joomla 2.5.0 allows different drivers to be written that will support different versions of SQL databases. Current drivers exist for the MySQL and MS SQL databases, with PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQLite and PDO drivers being developed.
- CAPTCHA in Core
- Linking New Menus with a Module
- Use the Images and URL Fields to Create Simple Standardized Layouts
- Choose whether Administrator to Get Email When New Users Register
- Menu Item Note
- Custom Text Filters
- Greater Flexibility Filtering by Category in Article Manager
- Manager for Language Overrides
- User Notes
- Flexible Newsfeed Order
- Image Option for the Offline Page
- Option to Have a Site Come Up Offline After Installation
- Better Performance in Menu Item Edit page
- Alternate meta tags for multi-lingual sites
- Improving SEO: New system plugin: languagecode
- Improving SEO: New system plugin: languagecode
- View all new features
