= Release Notes for HelenOS Trunk = '''Note:''' This document is a draft describing a future HelenOS release and is subject to change. The software described here has not been released yet. To get these latest and greatest features now, check out our SVN trunk. (But you will also get the latest bugs). HelenOS ''version'' was released on ''date''. This document contains a summary of changes made to HelenOS since release 0.4.0. == Features Introduced in This Release == === General === * Multilingual text support * HelenOS now uses UCS as its primary representation for characters and UTF-8 as the primary string encoding, both in kernel and in user space. (With UTF-32 as an alternative for some special internal purposes). * New string API * The kernel and user space use a new (non-standard) string API which allows convenient processing of UTF-8 strings. === Services and Drivers === * Device mapper * ''kbd'' has been rewritten and modularized. It supports three layouts (US QWERTY, US Dvorak and Czech QWERTZ). * Console inheritance has been implemented at long last. Now tasks executed on the command line will use the same VC as their parent shell. The implementation makes use of the new ''devfs'' and a helper program, ''getvc''. * ''rd'' now uses an abstract block device interface. * Added ''gxe_bd'' for GXemul disk device. * Added ''ata_bd'' for ATA disks simulated in Qemu. * Added ''file_bd'' block device backed by a file. === File systems === * Support for multiple file systems mounted at once. * Support for stat() and fstat() file system calls. * The file system block cache will write back blocks to the device, it still does not flush the cache periodically though. * ''tmpfs'' now supports multiple instances (#35) * Added ''devfs'' file system for handling access to console via a file handle. === Applications === * Tester * ''tester'' is controlled by command-line arguments rather than being interactive. * Tetris * ''tetris'' now uses colors. * Score table is now persistent. * Bdsh * Support for simple ''mv'' command. * Support for simple ''mount'' command. === Miscellaneous === * New Memory Allocator * Doug Lee's memory allocator has been removed and replaced with a simple first-fit allocator. The new allocator has more readable code making it easier to debug, modify and maintain. * Build system * Preconfigured defaults greatly simplify the process of configuring a HelenOS build. == Regressions in This Release == * Support for mips32 malta machine * Support for the Simics model of the mips32 malta machine has been removed due to code cleanup. * Mouse support on ia32 and amd64 * Mouse support was temporarily removed from the i8042 driver due to code cleanup. A new mouse driver will be reintroduced in a near future release. == Known Bugs ==