update for 8.6.0-beta1 release

Author: jmckenna

en/development/announce/8-6.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+.. _announce-8-6:
+
+*****************************************************************************
+Version 8.6.0-beta1 Announcement
+*****************************************************************************
+
+:Authors: Project Steering Committee
+:Last Updated: 2025-11-13
+
+The MapServer Team is pleased to announce the first beta release of 
+MapServer 8.6.0-beta1
+
+The upcoming 8.6 release brings a number of major new features that are briefly 
+summarized in this document. The full list of changes can be found in :ref:`changelog-8-6`.
+The :ref:`Migration Guide <migration-8-6>` also contains more detailed examples of 
+the major changes.
+
+Major New Features Coming in MapServer 8.6
+------------------------------------------
+
+- new MapServer index page (`#7350 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7350>`__)
+
+- WMS GetFeatureInfo: add options to precisely identify points through their symbols (`#7318 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7318>`__)
+
+- add FALLBACK parameter for CLASS object, to be applied if none of the previously defined classes has been applied (`#7309 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7309>`__)
+
+- add vendorSpecificParameters to OpenAPI document (`#7295 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7295>`__)
+
+Other Related Updates
+---------------------
+  
+- the demo server hosting many live OGC endpoints has been updated & 
+  constantly maintained, as it is so important for the community: 
+  https://demo.mapserver.org
+
+Migration Guide
+---------------
+
+Head to the :ref:`Migration Guide <migration-8-4>` for mapfile examples of the major 8.4.0 changes.
+
+Source Code Download
+--------------------
+
+The source for this release can be downloaded at:
+
+    https://mapserver.org/download.html
+
+Binary Distributions
+--------------------
+
+Binary distributions will be available in the coming days:
+
+- Debian binaries of 8.6.0-beta1 are already available: https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/mapserver
+- `OSGeoLive <https://live.osgeo.org>`__ 17.0 release process is happening now, but
+  it will soon include MapServer 8.6.0-beta1
+- `UbuntuGIS <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGIS>`__ will follow the OSGeoLive
+  release and will then include MapServer 8.6.0-beta1
+- MS4W users have already been using branch-8-6 code, but watch for 
+  a new release shortly containing the 8.6.0-beta1 changes at: https://ms4w.com
+    
+.. TBD    
+    - `RHEL and CentOS` TODO
+    - `OpenSUSE` TODO
+
+Other binary distributions listed on the download page should also be updated
+with binaries for the new release shortly.
+
+Documentation
+-------------
+
+The entire 8.4.0 documentation is also available as a `PDF document <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/docs/MapServer.pdf>`__ |image| 
+(1143 pages, with clickable table of contents as well).
+
+.. |image| image:: ../../../_static/pdf.png
+   :height: 15
+   :width: 15
+   :alt: PDF icon
+   :target: https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/docs/MapServer.pdf
+
+Thanks
+------
+
+Thank you to all of the users, developers, and supporters of MapServer. Enjoy!
+
+*The MapServer Team*
+