Although my interest and activity have dropped off, I'm grateful that Lexikos, fincs, Sean, jackieku, Micha and others consider AutoHotkey worthwhile enough to provide it with major new functionality. In keeping with this, and as something long overdue, I've altered the website to give AutoHotkey_L more of the attention it deserves (most importantly the download page).
As time goes on, the site statistics (download demand) can help determine whether the site should be reoriented more toward AutoHotkey_L. In any case, I'd like everyone to feel free to use the entire forum for either version of AutoHotkey.
Time has indeed gone on, and it is time to ask - Is it now time for AHK_L to succeed the halted AutoHotkey "Basic"? As is obvious from the Announcements forum, AutoHotkey_L is being actively developed and improved, while AutoHotkey Basic is unlikely to ever be patched again. With the upcoming site changes, I believe we should discuss this a bit. My personal opinion is that AHK_L should be incorporated as the main version of AutoHotkey during the redesign of AutoHotkey.com, and that the documentation & tutorial should make it obvious that AutoHotkey is a language that anyone can use, while still revealing to advanced users how to easier perform more - using functions, libraries & AHK_L's enhanced abilities.
I'll list a few pro's and con's with the alternatives (feel free to add to these lists).
A) Keep it as it is now, with two parallel versions
(+)
[*:2mebbuuo]No change required
[*:2mebbuuo]Basic is more "scaled down", and is less intimidating to beginners
[*:2mebbuuo]All legacy scripts will work with Basic
[*:2mebbuuo]Choice is good (let new users choose)
[*:2mebbuuo]AutoHotkey Basic never changes, compatibility is never broken
(-)
[*:2mebbuuo]New scripts can't be run with people using basic
[*:2mebbuuo]If basic remains featured, people will keep downloading it
[*:2mebbuuo]It's creating a fracture where some scripts can only be used by some parts of the community
Make AHK_L the "main" version
(+)
[*:2mebbuuo]AutoHotkey_L is up-to-date and continually improved, is supported by developers
[*:2mebbuuo]AutoHotkey_L has features that Basic lacks (Arrays, "Objects", COM, Unicode, better GUIs etc.)
[*:2mebbuuo]AutoHotkey_L can be used precisely as Basic too (but easier)
[*:2mebbuuo]Remove the division between different types of users
[*:2mebbuuo]Only one version to "support" in Scripts & Functions, Ask for Help, etc.
[*:2mebbuuo]All/most new scripts can be used by AHK_L
(-)
[*:2mebbuuo]Most features of AHK_L aren't "necessary"
[*:2mebbuuo]Some users may be annoyed by shoving away Basic, and eventually leave
[*:2mebbuuo]Having more advanced features may confuse people into thinking AutoHotkey is difficult
*Note: If you use several versions of AutoHotkey, you can tick in your personally prefered version.