User blog comment:Kirkburn/VisualEditor - the past, present and future/@comment-11008902-20140605160023/@comment-126761-20140605170926

The new visual editor is intended to replace the older visual editor - we certainly don't want to keep two visual editors around. VE has huge technical advantages over the older visual editor, and we're working to make sure using it is a much better experience too.

Many newbie visitors are actually scared off by wikitext, as simple as experienced users like us think it is. The desire is that editors should not ever need to know wikitext to contribute to a wikia, with the ultimate goal of turning more visitors into effective editors. Wikitext isn't going away, of course - if you're happier using wikitext, we're not going to stop you.