Changes between Version 4 and Version 5 of R1/Beta1/ReleaseNotes


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Timestamp:
May 27, 2014, 8:31:16 PM (10 years ago)
Author:
kallisti5
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revision 4

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  • R1/Beta1/ReleaseNotes

    v4 v5  
    1 ''' HAIKU R1 Alpha 5 Release Notes'''
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     7 HAIKU R1 Alpha 5 Release Notes
     8July 1st, 2014
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    310        These are the release notes for HAIKU R1 Alpha 5. For this fifth alpha release, we strove to provide an improved version of Haiku that is more stable, introduces more features for both the end-user and developer, and has a greater chance of properly booting on more hardware.
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    5         We have tried hard to make this release as good as possible. Still there are a few known issues and missing features, some of them collected below. Please keep in mind that this is alpha software, which means it is not yet feature complete and still contains known and unknown bugs. While we are mostly confident in the stability of this release, we do not provide any assurances against data loss.
     12We have tried hard to make this release as good as possible. Still there are a few known issues and missing features, some of them collected below. Please keep in mind that this is alpha software, which means it is not yet feature complete and still contains known and unknown bugs. While we are mostly confident in the stability of this release, we do not provide any assurances against data loss.
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    7         Another goal that has driven the release of the Alpha 5 was to provide current and future Haiku developers an updated and (mostly) stable operating system to work on their software projects. Therefore we have included the basic build tools. This release of Haiku is capable of building and running binaries using either GCC 2 or GCC 4. The use of GCC 4 is discouraged however if not absolutely necessary, as no API compatibility is guaranteed with future versions of Haiku.
     14Another goal that has driven the release of the Alpha 5 was to provide current and future Haiku developers an updated and (mostly) stable operating system to work on their software projects. Therefore we have included the basic build tools. This release of HAIKU is capable of building and running binaries using either GCC 2 or GCC 4. As this is alpha software, at this time no ABI compatibility is guaranteed with future versions of Haiku.
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    9 '''System Requirements'''
     16System Requirements
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    11 Haiku currently only works on x86 systems. Minimum memory required is 256 MB. If compiling Haiku within itself, 1 GB of memory is recommended. Haiku has been tested to work on CPUs as slow as a Pentium II 400 MHz, and requires as little as 700 MB of drive space.
     18        Haiku currently only works on x86 systems. The absolute minimum memory required to boot Haiku is 192 MB. Recommended memory for end users is 512 MB or more. Developers should have 1 GB or more. Haiku has been tested to work on CPUs as slow as a Pentium II 400 MHz, and requires as little as 700 MB of drive space.
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    13 '''New Features'''
     20New Features
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    15 This is a glimpse into some of the more notable improvements and additions to Haiku, since the previous release, R1 Alpha 4. It should be noted that over 900 bugs closed as fixed since R1 Alpha 4.
     22        This is a glimpse into some of the more notable improvements and additions to Haiku, since the previous release, R1 Alpha 4.
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    17 Additionally, more than 80 subtle bugs have been fixed, which were discovered by Coverity.
     24Bugs fixed
     25More than 80 subtle bugs have been fixed, which were discovered by Coverity.
     26Over 900 bugs have been closed as fixed since R1 Alpha 4
     27Experimental in-place OS upgrade
     28The core operating system can now be upgraded using remote repositories.
     29Package management.
     30Haiku now has full package management with a graphical interface to browse package repositories and manage installed software. Haiku package management is unique as compressed software packages are mounted over the running system reducing boot time and improving disk performance. Haiku packages currently follow a rolling release model.
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    19 Package management.  Haiku now has full package management with a graphical interface to browse package repositories and manage installed software. Haiku package management is unique as compressed software packages are mounted over the running system reducing boot time and improving disk performance. Haiku packages currently follow a rolling release model while the operating system is in alpha.
     32Updated WebPositive browser
     33The native Haiku browser WebPositive now utilizes the latest WebKit rendering engine. This greatly improves rendering of modern web pages. WebPositive has also gained HTML5 video support enabling the playback of rich web audio and video content.
     34Improved scheduler
     35Haiku's CPU scheduler has been rewritten to provide better multi-core performance. Haiku now supports up to 64 CPU cores (and further growth will be much easier)
     36Improved hardware support
     37Various enhancements for hardware support, such as video drivers (radeon hd, intel extreme), and network drivers. MSI-X support activated in the FreeBSD compat layer (used with wireless cards).
     38Improved hardware security
     39Support for ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) and DEP (Data Execution Prevention) added.
     40Improved software security
     41Added KeyStore server for securely storing passwords.
     42Improved virtulization support
     43Addition of virtio block, scsi, and PCI drivers.
     44Experimental TRIM support
     45Manual SSD TRIM has been added (AHCI only).
     46Numerous potential memory leaks fixed
     47Update of the secondary compiler to GCC 4.8.2
     48Usage of compiler available via setarch x86
     49Update of OpenGL kit to newer Mesa3D 7.9.2
     50Improved OpenGL rendering.
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    21 Experimental in-place OS upgrade.  The core operating system can now be upgraded using remote repositories.
     52Known Issues
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    23 The native Haiku browser WebPositive now utilizes the latest WebKit rendering engine. This greatly improves rendering of modern web pages. WebPositive has also gained HTML5 video support enabling  rich web audio and video content.
     54LiveCD and first boot performance: After an initial installation or a boot into LiveCD mode, some background tasks are executed to finish the installation setup. This is known to degrade performance on the live media.
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    25 Various enhancements for hardware support, such as video drivers (radeon hd, intel extreme),  and network drivers.
     56Due to the uncertain situation about patents, the official release has disabled code, which is known to be patented. This sadly includes the subpixel code used by FreeType. Once the situation is better understood and a decision has been made, subpixel font rendering may get re-enabled.
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    27 Improved translations
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    29 Numerous potential memory leaks fixed
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    31 Update of the secondary and experimental compiler to GCC 4.8.2 (available via setarch x86)
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    33 Update of OpenGL kit to newer Mesa3D 7.9.2
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    35 '''Missing Features'''
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    37 LiveCD and first boot performance: After an initial installation or a boot into LiveCD mode, some background tasks are executed to finish the installation setup. This is known to degrade performance. On hard disk installs this usually is not a problem as the tasks are done quickly. In LiveCD mode the performance hit is more prominently visible due to the usually bad seek performance on CDs. Since the CD is read-only, this setup takes place on every start of the LiveCD. On writable media it will only be done once, so further boots shouldn't experience the same delays.
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    39 Due to the uncertain situation about patents, the official release has disabled code, which is known to be patented. This sadly includes the subpixel code used by FreeType. Once the situation is better understood and a decision has been made, subpixel font rendering may get re-enabled for official releases.
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    41 Copying large amounts of data from faster to slower disk drives (like USB sticks) can cause the system to start paging.
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    43 The Haiku boot loader has been reported to hang on some hardware.
     58SSD TRIM is an experemental feature. While SSD TRIM won't trigger automatically, manually running it from the command line does have some risk of erasing data on the SSD device selected for TRIM due to the wide range of SSD devices on the market. Please have a backup and be prepared for dataloss before running fstrim.
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    4560Support for localization/internationalization is still a work in progress. Some applications might only be partially translated and have issues with long strings in languages other than English.
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    4763Firmware for some wireless network cards need user acknowledgement, prior to their installation. This includes Broadcom 43xx, Intel ipw2100, Intel ipw2200 and Marvell 88W8335. As a temporary measure, a script is included to assist in this process (available via install-wifi-firmwares.sh).
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    5167Due to size constraints of CDs, several developer related tools have been removed (e.g., hg, svn, cvs, python. They can be installed via pkgman or HaikuDepot)
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    53 '''Source Code'''
     69Source Code
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    55 The source code of Haiku itself, the source code of the required build tools and the optional packages (except for closed source ones) is made available for download at: ​​http://www.haiku-files.org/files/releases/r1alpha5/sources/
     71        The source code of Haiku itself, the source code of the required build tools and the optional packages (except for closed source ones) is made available for download at:
     72​​http://www.haiku-files.org/files/releases/r1alpha5/sources/
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    57 '''Reporting Issues'''
     74Reporting Issues
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    59 There are over 2400 open tickets on Haiku's bug tracker and over 6600 closed items. If you find what you believe to be an issue, please search our Trac to see if it has already been reported, and if not, file a new ticket: ​​http://dev.haiku-os.org/
     76        There are over 3000 open tickets on Haiku's bug tracker and over 7700 closed items. If you find what you believe to be an issue, please search our Trac to see if it has already been reported, and if not, file a new ticket:
     77​​http://dev.haiku-os.org
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    61 To see the list of tickets reported in Haiku R1 Alpha 5, visit ​​http://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/R1/Alpha5/ReportedIssues
     79To see the list of tickets reported in Haiku R1 Alpha 5, visit:
     80http://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/R1/Alpha5/ReportedIssues
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    63 For information about major issues that have been fixed since the release, visit ​​http://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/R1/Alpha5/ReleaseAddendum
     82For information about major issues that have been fixed since the release, visit:
     83​http://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/R1/Alpha5/ReleaseAddendum
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    65 For more help see the 'Welcome' link on the Haiku desktop, or visit the Haiku Project's website at www.haiku-os.org.
     85For more help see the 'Welcome' link on the Haiku desktop, or visit the Haiku Project's website at: http://www.haiku-os.org