What version to choose?

Ogre

• You are fine with a default rendering pipeline that follows the fixed-function paradigm
• You like the Toolbox approach and want to assemble your own high-performance physically based rendering pipeline using the RTSS or custom shaders
• You want to have a broad range of documentation resources, like the Wiki, online code snippets and books.
• You need 3rd party plugins (e.g. GUI Solutions, Exporters)
• You target a broad range of mobile platforms (Android, iOS, WebGL, Windows UWP)
• You want to rely on verified code (as in Unit Tests)
• You need compatibility with the Ogre 1.7 API (e.g. for a existing codebase)
• You need broad hardware support including DX9 and OpenGL 1.5 class Hardware

Ogre Next

• You want a modern physically based rendering pipeline out-of-the-box, capable of “multi draw rendering”
• You like the Framework approach and are fine with using the predefined pipeline (or are an expert user writing a custom HLMS)
• You already know your way around Ogre or can learn the API from source code as Documentation is still scarce
• You don’t need 3rd party plugins that haven’t been ported yet (like GUI Solutions, Exporters). Check the 2.0+ Forum to find what has been ported by the community already.
• You target only recent mobile devices (Android 7.0+ and iPhone 5S+)
• You like bleeding edge.
• You want VR Support out-of-the-box
• Your main target is Windows and/or Linux.

For more details about the ogre-next state and frequently asked questions, see the Ogre 2.1 FAQ article.