AEM 6.3 New Features Which a developer should be aware of.

AEM 6.3 New Features Which a developer should be aware of.
Adobe has released 6.3 versions which are termed as a Minor Release, with general availability date April 26, 2017. AEM 6.3 is basically an upgrade to AEM 6.2 codebase. JCR version used in the current version is Apache Jackrabbit Oak 1.6.1. Quickstart uses Eclipse Jetty version 9.2.19.

What is fresh in AEM6.3?

• Enhanced functionality
• Customer Fixes
• High priority customer enhancements
• General bug fixes for product stabilization
• Also includes feature pack, hotfix, and service packs

Release Notes: Read here
New things for administrators.
The latest AEM 6.3 introduces support for below-operating systems and servers

Server OS:
Microsoft Windows Server 2016

Application Server: 

IBM WebSphere version 9.0
IBM WebSphere Server Continuous Delivery (LibertyProfile) with IBM JRE 1.8

Useful new features for developers are listed below based on the developer priority.
Content Repository Changes:
A new TarMK format is used in 6.3 which ensures optimized runtime and maintenance performance. Ensure if we are doing a release upgrade, the existing Tar files to be rewritten to the new Oak Segment Tar file format to comply with AEM 6.3.

User Interface Enhancements:
In AEM 6.3 the user interface has been fully transitioned to the Web Component based Coral 3 UI framework(To comply with 2017 Adobe Marketing Cloud UI design). Classic UI is still available but the majority of the touch UI entry points for classic UI are disabled considering Adobe's plan to deprecate the Classic UI in AEM in April 2018.

Security Improvements:

1. Quickstart install through command line asks user to set up the admin password, so that the default password is not in use.
2. For https access of AEM, an SSL setup configuration has been added now in 6.3
3. Now store all OSGI configuration properties in a protected encrypted form instead of plain text.
4. Cross-Origin Resource Sharing can be configured for separate policies(for different origins) and resource paths.
5. OAuth level enhancements for token authorization.
6. All closed user group operations are now more scalable, reliable, and faster with AEM latest version.

Scalability Additions

• To accelerate usage of AEM UI and content from author instance in a secure way, AEM 6.3 prompts usage of CDN's.

Upgrade related improvements

• Basically, the upgrade process is much quicker now, with multiple automated processes.
• Pre-Upgrade Compatibility Checks are now faster.
• Pre-Upgrade Maintenance Optimization now uses Java Management Extensions(JMX) which allows for automation of methods.
• Post-Upgrade Check Automation now scans for errors after installation.

Projects and workflow Improvements

• The projects section provides a calendar view of projects. Also, we now can quickly create projects reusing team structure.
• Workflow inbox is organized with a calendar view that allows us to search and filter tasks.

Page, Components and Template Editor Changes

• AEM 6.3 features various refinements, improved loading speed, and smarter reloading.
• In 6.3 the Core Components are open source and distributed via GitHub, so a better distribution environment, the ability for implementation partners and customers to contribute back.

Content & Experience Fragments

• Content Fragments allow working on text-based content out-side the context of an experience.
• Experience Fragments allow managing sections of experiences that can easily be reused and distributed.

Adobe Experience Cloud Integrations

• 3rd party tags can be pulled through Adobe cloud integration now.
• The Page Editor provides a simple way to load the Activity Map, which provides a dashboard of real-time analytics to monitor audience engagement of the web pages.

MSM Add ons

• Previous Blueprint Control Center is now replaced with new Livecopy Overview UI which provides an instant view of the status.
• Commerce Integrations
• Commerce Integrations made it easier for some of the providers like Magento,Symphony, SAP hybris 6.x version.

Communities & Assets improvements

• Enhancements to Community Site management like New account management features with email-based verification, New We.Retail Community reference implementation etc.
• New and enhanced Assets Insights capabilities and integration like Assets Templates, better collaboration, 3D files support, Scalability and Performance, Search improvements.