Update README (#2967)

Author: pivovarit

README.md

@@ -1,27 +1,27 @@
-[![Maven Central](https://maven-badges.herokuapp.com/maven-central/io.vavr/vavr/badge.png)](https://maven-badges.herokuapp.com/maven-central/io.vavr/vavr)
-[![Code Scene](https://img.shields.io/badge/codescene-analyzed-brightgreen.svg)](https://codescene.io/projects/981/jobs/latest-successful/results)
-[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/vavr-io/vavr.png)](https://travis-ci.org/vavr-io/vavr)
-[![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/vavr-io/vavr/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/vavr-io/vavr)
-[![Sputnik](https://sputnik.ci/conf/badge)](https://sputnik.ci/app#/builds/vavr-io/vavr)
-[![Gitter Chat](https://badges.gitter.im/Join%20Chat.png)](https://gitter.im/vavr-io/vavr)
+# Vavr
+
+[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg?style=flat-square)](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
+[![GitHub Release](https://img.shields.io/github/release/vavr-io/vavr.svg?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/vavr-io/vavr/releases)
+![Maven Central Version](https://img.shields.io/maven-central/v/io.vavr/vavr?versionPrefix=0)
+[![Build Status](https://github.com/vavr-io/vavr/actions/workflows/build.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/vavr-io/vavr/actions/workflows/build.yml)
+[![Code Coverage](https://codecov.io/gh/vavr-io/vavr/branch/master/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/vavr-io/vavr)
 
 ```text
  ____  ______________  ________________________  __________
  \   \/   /      \   \/   /   __/   /      \   \/   /      \
   \______/___/\___\______/___/_____/___/\___\______/___/\___\
 ```
 
-# [Vavr](https://vavr.io/)
-
-Vavr is an object-functional language extension to Java 8, which aims to reduce the lines of code and increase code quality.
-It provides persistent collections, functional abstractions for error handling, concurrent programming, pattern matching and much more.
+Vavr is an object-functional language extension to Java 8 that aims to reduce the number of lines of code and increase code quality.
+It provides persistent collections, functional abstractions for error handling, concurrent programming, pattern matching, and much more.
 
 Vavr fuses the power of object-oriented programming with the elegance and robustness of functional programming.
 The most interesting part is a feature-rich, persistent collection library that smoothly integrates with Java's standard collections.
 
-Because Vavr does not depend on any libraries (other than the JVM) you can easily add it as standalone .jar to your classpath.
+Because Vavr does not depend on any libraries (other than the JVM), you can easily add it as a standalone _.jar_ to your classpath.
 
-To stay up to date please follow the [blog](http://blog.vavr.io).
+### Stargazers over time
+[![Stargazers over time](https://starchart.cc/vavr-io/vavr.svg?variant=adaptive)](https://starchart.cc/vavr-io/vavr)
 
 ## Using Vavr
 
@@ -34,25 +34,13 @@ See [User Guide](http://docs.vavr.io) and/or [Javadoc](http://www.javadoc.io/doc
 * Executing code coverage report: `mvn -P ci clean test jacoco:report`
 * Create -javadoc.jar: `mvn javadoc:jar`
 * Create -source.jar: `mvn source:jar`
-* Update version properties: `mvn versions:update-properties`
-* Check for new plugin version: `mvn versions:display-plugin-updates`
-
-### Benchmarks
-
-Currently, only basic microbenchmarks are available. To run:
-
-```bash
-mvn clean test -P benchmark -pl vavr-benchmark
-```
 
 ### Contributing
 
-A small number of users have reported problems building Vavr. Read "How to Contribute" (CONTRIBUTING.md) for details.
-
----
+Currently, there are two significant branches:
+- `main` (represents a stream of work leading to the release of a new ma version)
+- `version/1.x` (historical work that went into `1.0.0-alpha-3`, treat is as read-only)
 
-If you like Vavr you can support us by donating.
+If you're unsure which one to start with, start with `main`.
 
-<a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=8ZR8YCWB9K5WA">
-<img src="https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/743833/23549988/02d66ccc-000f-11e7-8764-a257b21377bd.gif">
-</a>
+A small number of users have reported problems building Vavr. Read our [contribution guide](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for details.