GitHub Pages has upgraded to Jekyll 3.0, significantly simplifying the process of publishing sites by introducing kramdown as the default Markdown engine and Rouge for syntax highlighting, eliminating the need for Python and Pygments. This update offers a more intuitive Markdown experience familiar to GitHub users, with kramdown's GitHub-flavored Markdown providing compatibility with previously used engines like Rdiscount and Redcarpet. Jekyll 3.0 also enhances site preview and optimization with faster local builds and a liquid profiler for build time analysis. This update, effective from May 1st, 2016, discontinues support for Textile and relative permalinks, encouraging users to adopt Markdown and adjust permalink directives accordingly. These changes aim to make the GitHub Pages experience faster and more user-friendly for both new and experienced users, with resources available for those needing guidance on the upgrade.