Any point in having 2 versions of KK? v2.9.6 and v3.x?

Prob need to read the question a bit deeper. I think he is aware of the MK1 not being supported by V3 which is why he states he has a new keyboard (assuming by new he means an MK3) but wants to try and adapt to using both until comfortable to switch to the new V3.

To the OP…

Fast Facts:

• There is no OSD keyboard on either KK V2 or V3, no difference there
• V3 is (by most user accounts) no faster than V2 in any area, in fact experience and several reports I see lately say it is actually a lot slower.
• Overall, browsing for presets is much clunkier because you now lose that handy side browser and instead, have to click a button to switch between plugin and browse modes… can't have both open.
• For many experienced and long time users, V3 improves on very little other than resizable window but messes up the whole browsing experience many of us had come to love over the last 10 years for no good reason. Almost seems like the new GHUI wasn't even designed by NI but a completely different party who feels the look of the interface is more important than the actual function. Hard to even find a single post saying how much better it is over how it was…
• You don't actually say your new keyboard is a KK keyboard so if it is not the KK MK3 keyboard, I would highly suggest to save your sanity to just stick with 2.9, there is little to gain and lots to possibly lose.

Your mileage may vary but as another long term user who started with MK1, has An MK2 and even an A series and an MK3 (still unused) but here is what I can say as someone who has used KK a LOT over 10 years from my personal experience.

There is a reason my MK3 is unused, the software is (IMHO) a huge let down and having grown accustom to the speed and performance of KK V2, V3 does not live up to the standard at all. I have not used it extensively to comment on the current bugs and issues, tho I see a lot of posts constantly about it, my main gripe is the mess they made of the browser and the loss of the side browser.

For users of custom NKS libraries, another kick in the knads is with the Bank feature being (what I feel deliberately) crippled where sub banks don't appear when browsing files, an issue that was made aware before the software even left Alpha testing over a year ago, hence my assumption this was a deliberate move because there has been no feedback from NI at all about this one and it's a simple fix.

There is more to comment on but alas, a year on with KK V3 and no closer to making me want to switch from V2, even tho V2 has its own long standing issues that were never resolved either, it does the one thing it WAS good at, browsing preset sounds fast.

It is also likely not going to work well either having both V2 and V3 installed at the same time. I have not bothered to try. I think KK V3 and V2 use separate databases since V3 has some differences but again, have not tested lately as none of the comments on the forums fill me with any real interest to test again at the moment.

I too was a heavy MK2 user, but left a few years ago as I didn’t see any real progress being made for the Komplete Kontrol platform.
I recently came back and from someone who just purchased a Mk3 after a few weeks of use, I’m pretty let down by the newer version.
The browsing experience is just worse. To echo what Jester has said, I absolutely agree with him.
It’s pretty hard to understand how a company that had 50 million dollars invested in it, a few years ago, could completely disregard their customers requests, and keep dropping that ball at every chance they get.
I’m now at a place where I have to decide if I want to trust NI again, if I think they will begin to make real progress with Komplete Kontrol 3 , but their track record just keeps defining what’s wrong with the company overall.
They don’t seem to get we need aggressive leadership in terms of delivering quality development on this platform. A brilliant idea is being squandered away by a lackluster approach from their management team.
Finally there’s no one from NI saying , hey guys we hear you and we are working everyday to fix the issues and we will have these resolved soon.
It’s quite disappointing

I've had a few months off writing, and having returned to KK, everything feels slower and more glitchy.

I have the S61 Mk2 with KK running V3.3.3, and the speed of selection of instruments is slow, and something seems to have changed in the functionality of the Browser and Plug in buttons. As this is embedded in my muscle memory, I can't exactly say what has changed, but something has. Maybe someone can point me towards this. Also, anything using Battery 4 seems crash Logic, when accessed via Komplete Kontrol, but is perfectly ok if you load Battery directly.

This and a generally slower experience with the big plugins like Straylight, Pharlight etc has kind of wrecked my workflow. I'm trying to ascertain whether this is an ageing computer (Macbook Pro 2017, 3.1 quad core, 16gb RAM 1TB, External 2TB Thunderbolt for Libraries) or whether somethings gone wrong at the NI KK end. Any suggestions gratefully received.