Big differences between Firmwares 8266-32

[Obstsalat]

Hello,

in the last time i only used more the ESp32`s for Automation but actually i want to use a 8266. There are some big differences between the FW`s.
ESP8266:
No Dark and White mode,
Rules Tab without Code correction or Coloring,
(this is special, on ESP Collection NeoPixel i cant change Data Port) - D2 cant be used because of the LED on Board.

Is that Intentional?

Greets

[Ath]

ESP8266:
- No Dark and White mode,
Rules Tab without Code correction or Coloring,

That is because of the build you are using, ESP32 has more room for code, so some features, like dark mode and colorcode, are enabled, where the ESP8266 Collection builds don't have enough space to include these less important features.

(this is special, on ESP Collection NeoPixel i cant change Data Port) - D2 cant be used because of the LED on Board.

That's a technical limitation of ESP8266 and some of the NeoPixel libraries used. The plain/regular NeoPixel plugin does allow to select the GPIO pin.

[TD-er]

To be honest, if you do have experience with the ESP32's then going to ESP8266 is a big downgrade.
The ESP8266 can only have a sketch upto 1MB (minus a few k)
No matter how large your flash chip is, you simply can't use a larger binary.
This seriously limits what can be included in the build and thus we had to have a lot of features stripped out to make it fit.
A few of those are dark mode, syntax highlighting, etc.

When you're still looking to get your modules, please only use 16MB flash modules and use either ESP32 or have a look at the ESP32-C3 or ESP32-S3. (support for the last 2 was merged yesterday)

The C3 does feel incredibly snappy when using it and this one can be had in form factors based on the old ESP8266 in the ESP-12F modules, so it is a really easy upgrade path when moving on from the ESP8266.

[Obstsalat]

Hi,

thank you for your big detailed reply. I now understand.

Do you know some supplier they sell these 16mb modules cheap?

Greetings Obstsalat

[TD-er]

Just modules, or more like boards looking like those "nodemcu" boards?

[Ath]

With the recently added support for ESP32-C3 and ESP32-S3, an S3 board could be a quite cost-effective solution. They are available from several suppliers, like this one from Aliexpress (will take a couple of weeks to arrive), or pick a regular ESP32 with 16MB from NL: TiniTronics that will arrive sooner, usually within a few days, though I expect that similar suppliers are available close(r) to your location (Germany, I guess?)