The Complete History Of WinMX - Part 4



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After 3.10 users where in less than a month treated to a new set of Beta versions of WinMX starting with the 3.11 Beta 1 Version (10th June) which saw the release of these informative change notes.

Changes in v3.11 Beta 1

- corrected major bug that caused crashes when # of total uploads (dead or running) + download connections + OpenNap servers + channel connections >= 1024
- major re-write of all bandwidth throttle code, old version was allowing outgoing UDP packets to violate bandwidth throttle, which then causes other problems for users with primary connections,
especially ADSL users with limited outgoing bandwidth
- major re-write of channel redirect code, however it hasn't been tested under real-world conditions yet
- bandwidth graph paint code has been greatly streamlined, was taking too much CPU time
- dangerous filetype warning suppress should work now
- bandwidth throttle now has adjustable resolution (and defaults to 200ms instead of 100ms in v3.1 )
- master window second row buttons will now always show in appropriate mode, even if channels and searches are undocked
- secondary connection can be cycled without losing channel connections (click the "Make Secondary Connection" radio button, and your current connection will be disconnected and WinMX will find a new one.)
- several other minor bug fixes

This beta version will be on the same network as the old version 3.1, so search results should still be plentiful.

Notes
Our main objective during this round of beta testing is to improve client stability and improve WPN primary connection efficiency.
We have logged thousands of great ideas and changes that were sent in from our users, but for now we are focused exclusively on making the client
relatively crash-free and able to maintain a very stable network connection. Once this objective has been accomplished, we will release a new final version 3.2, at which time we will begin implementing some new features and refinements.


This was followed a few days later (13th Jun) by the 3.11 Beta 2 version. The release notes for this one showed the direction of future tests with an announcement that this version would not work with any other.

Changes in v3.11 Beta 2:

- corrected major bug that caused crashes when # of total uploads (dead or running) + download connections + OpenNap servers + channel connections >= 1024
- major re-write of all bandwidth throttle code, old version was allowing outgoing UDP packets to violate bandwidth throttle, which then causes other problems for users with primary connections, especially ADSL users with limited outgoing bandwidth
- major re-write of channel redirect code, however it hasn't been tested under real-world conditions yet
- bandwidth graph paint code has been greatly streamlined, was taking too much CPU time
- dangerous filetype warning suppress should work now
- bandwidth throttle now has adjustable resolution (and defaults to 200ms instead of 100ms in v3.1 ) <<
- master window second row buttons will now always show in appropriate mode, even if channels and searches are undocked
- secondary connection can be cycled without losing channel connections (click the "Make Secondary Connection" radio button, and your current connection will be disconnected and WinMX will find a new one.)
- secondary connection message scheduling, so simultaneous searches don't drown each other out
- secondary search stop command, eliminating wasted bandwidth when a search is halted prematurely
- channel flood algorithm now includes /action /emote /me messages
- default channel user limit now 40 instead of 10
- several other minor bug fixes

Notes:
Remember, this beta test version of WinMX is intended for EXPERT USERS ONLY. As with any version of WinMX, you USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. If you are uncomfortable with this, do not participate in the beta test.

Very Important: Due to certain protocol changes, BETA 2 connects to it's own network, separate from ALL other versions of WinMX, including BETA 1. Therefore, the amount of search results and other users will be very small compared to other versions. If you are uncomfortable with this, please refrain from downloading BETA 2, as we will be releasing a final v3.2 very, very soon. Also, due to the very small initial size of the network, you may experience some delay connecting. Please just let it run and be patient.


Find WinMX 3.11 beta series in WinMXWorld Archive

Following the success of both of these betas A new "proper" version was released and only one day after the end of the tests.
This new release was named version 3.20 and appeared on the 14th June.

Find WinMX 3.20 release in WinMXWorld Archive

following this lighting phase of releases Frontcode Technologies released a single week later (22nd June) the 3.21 version of their client, this had all the fixes and improvements over prior versions and much of the unsightly layout of features had by now disappeared for a more streamlined view.

Find WinMX 3.21 release in WinMXWorld Archive

Two days later yet another version was released (24th June) 3.22, this version is clearly similar to the basic pleasing layout and format we see used in all subsequent releases. The following minor change note was released.

This new version contains a drastically improved network as well as several minor bug fixes.


WinMX 3.22 release page from the internet archive

Find WinMX 3.22 release in WinMXWorld Archive

Obviously at this fast rate of release it must have been quite exausting for the Frontcode developers so its no suprise there followed a quieter period of just under two months.

Another point of WinMX community history to note is that around the time of 3.11 beta 1 Vladd44 had started constructing his well known website albeit from his home using the http://vladd44.no-ip.com web address, it would later be renamed Vladd44.com and become a hub of WinMX activity and information.

Vladds early forum Page From the Internet archive

Another well known forum of the time was the winmxcommunity.com site

Internet archive page for Winmxcommunity.com


Lets get back to the frontcode timeline. On the 19th of August, the curious members of the WinMX userbase made their way to WinMX.com to grab the newly released 3.29 beta 1, this was designed to fix and upgrade some parts of the primary network, there followed a small delay in any further beta releases, but on the 1st september a miraculous 4 versions where released on the same day!
This was the first time this had occured and took many of the beta testers by storm, at this time however the frontcode developers had in fact chosen a few trusted community users to get the test versions directly, these where technically minded users who had been helpful in providing some of the feedback for previous cycles of testing, this had the benefit of speeding up the process of bug finding and evaluating new feature that had been added, soon on the 4th 3.29 beta 6 was released, this was the final version in the series.

Find WinMX 3.29 beta series in WinMXWorld Archive

On the 6th of september 2002 the fruits of the testing where made public with the release of WinMX 3.30

WinMX 3.30 release page from the internet archive

Find WinMX 3.30 release in WinMXWorld Archive




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