OC 2.3.0.2 versus OC 3.X

I have a highly customised 2.3.0.2 site using much of the OC framework and it has been stable for 3 + years. I have to now start a new site for another division of our company, and would like some advice as to whether I should do it in 2.3.0.2, which I know pretty well, or do it in 3.X. I understand that 2.x uses tpl and 3.x uses twig, but can't imagine that will be a huge learning curve. My concerns are that :-
1)does 2.x have an end of life from a PHP version or otherwise point of view(recently upgraded to PHP7.4 on my 2.3.0.2 site with a few problems) or any other potential EOL problems? I don't use any extensions or OCMod and won't in the new site either.
2)Is 3.x stable enough to use in a new development and if so, what version is recommended and what is your opinion on the learning curve from 2.X.
I appreciate any input
www.ic-express.co.za

1. OpenCart 2 doesn't really have an end life from the development perspective. There are no major bugs or any security exploits in 2.3.0.2, so it should be safe to use. The only restriction is PHP version --- some hosts are forcing PHP 8 recently, and 2.3 is not compatible. I believe there is a branch that is being worked on for PHP 8 support, but I don't remember where I saw that. (If anyone has the link, please post it here.)

2. 3.0.3.8 is stable enough for use in a new store. However, unless you need some feature from the 3.0 versions, there aren't a lot of advantages in my experience. It added some things like the Theme Editor, but you can't use that if you use ocMod extensions, and the Twig files can be annoying if you haven't worked with them before. There are also a few other internal changes you'd need to figure out if you are used to 2.3, but those are mostly coding changes so it would only affect you if you're a developer.

Personally, if you can continue using 2.3.0.2 on your server, I would use that version. That's just my opinion, though, I'm sure others would recommend 3.0.3.8. If you want a PHP 8 compatible branch for that OpenCart version, there is one here:

https://github.com/opencart/opencart/tr ... aintenance