whatsnew.txt

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4)  You can now switch between HTTP-based and RPC-based PrimeNet protocols
    from the Test/Primenet dialog box.

New features in Version 16.4 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  Lucas-Lehmer testing output now shows percent complete.
2)  Windows NT users can now set processor affinity on multi-CPU systems.
3)  ECM factoring is available for small exponents.  See
    http://www.mersenne.org/ecm.htm for a list of exponents that
    need factoring.
4)  A bug that prevented 486 & Cyrix machines from factoring above 2^62
    has been fixed.
5)  The LockUserInfo feature no longer sends user info every time prime95
    starts up.
6)  A bug in setting minimized or maximized window in a shortcut to prime95
    is fixed.
7)  Test/Status now shows expected completion dates.


New features in Version 16.3 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  The LockUserInfo=1 setting is now sent to the server so that no
    member of a team can accidentally transfer the credit for work
    previously performed by the team.

New features in Version 16.2 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  Bug in calculating estimated time to factor a number has been fixed.

New features in Version 16.1 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  Prime95 can now test exponents up to 20.5 million.
2)  Prime95 can now find factors up to 2^64.
3)  The program now reports to the PrimeNet server new completion dates
    every 28 days (actually user adjustable from 1 to 60 days).  This will
    improve the reclaiming of exponents that are not being actively tested.
4)  The program now reports the current iteration number to the server
    for more informative status reports.
5)  Intermediate files are now less likely to fail.  If an error occurs
    during the writing of an intermediate file, the program continues on
    trying to write the intermediate file every 10 minutes.
6)  A bug in the rolling average code has been fixed.  Prime95 now modifies
    the rolling average when factoring too.
7)  The prime.log file is now limited in size to 256K bytes.
8)  The user information dialog box now has a checkbox to tell the server
    not to send email.
9)  Setting LockUserInfo=1 in prime.ini will make the user information
    dialog box inaccessible.
10) Trying to run a second copy of prime95 will now start the already
    running copy of prime95.  This makes the Hide Icon feature a bit more
    useful.

New features in Version 15.4 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1) Quit GIMPS choice moved to the Advanced Menu (so novice users do
   not confuse it with exit).
2) A bug in httpnet.dll was fixed.  It now works for even more
   proxy servers and firewalls.

New features in Version 15.3 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1) More errors in detecting whether you are connected to the Internet have
   been fixed.
2) Minor bugs fixed.

New features in Version 15.2 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1) A new primenet.dll that uses HTTP to communicate with the server is
   available.  This should allow prime95 to work in environments that
   have firewalls installed.
2) An option that allows you to write a progress line to the results file
   every N iterations is available.
3) A dialog box lets you tell prime95 when you go on vacation.  This
   will prevent the server from reassigning your exponents when you're
   on an extended vacation.
4) Some errors in detecting whether you are connected to the Internet have
   been fixed.
5) An option for you to initiate all contact with the Primenet server
   is now available (in case I didn't find all the problems mentioned
   in number 4 above!)
6) Support for Windows 95 services has been added.
7) To get Windows 95 service support to work, prime95 now changes its
   working directory to the same directory that prime95.exe is located.
   If you must run prime95 from a different directory than the rest of the
   files, then use new -W switch.

New features in Version 15.1 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1) Better support for dial-up users to the Internet.
2) Prime95 no longer contacts the PrimeNet server at startup.
3) Prime95 will no longer let you select Pentium Pro or Pentium CPU type
   unless your CPU supports the process-specific instructions.
4) Bug where AMD-K6s were using the Pentium Pro factoring code (and
   crashing because of it) is fixed.

New features in Version 15.0 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  Prime95 can now contact a central server to get exponents to test,
    report results, and change your email address.  No database is required!
    The old manual reservation system is still supported.
    This has led to a major reworking of the user interface.
    See the readme file for more details.
2)  The Pentium factoring code (up to 60 bit factors) is about 4.5% faster.
3)  You can now change how often prime95 saves intermediate files to disk.
4)  You can now select one save file or two.
5)  The auto-continue option is gone.  The program now does an auto-continue
    by default.
6)  -Q switch removed.  The preferences dialog box lets you select whether
    the program should be quiet if a new Mersenne prime is found.
7)  -H switch removed.  Use the Hide Icon menu choice instead.
8)  -P switch removed.  The advanced menu now has a dialog box
    that lets you change the priority.
9)  -A switch added.  This allows you to run multiple copies of prime95
    from the same directory.  This is useful on multi-processor machines.
10) Prime95 no longer uses a prime95.ini file in the Windows directory.
    All information is kept in 3 local ini files:  prime.ini, local.ini,
    and worktodo.ini.  Eventually, all ports to other operating systems
    will use these same ini files.
11) The CPU dialog box now has an entry for the AMD K6 and an entry
    for how many hours per day you expect to be running the program.
12) The time estimate in the Status dialog box now takes into account
    the time you've invested in the current Lucas-Lehmer test.  It also
    takes into account how many hours per day you are running the program.
    It also adjusts its time estimate if your computer seems to be running
    faster or slower than expected.
13) Timestamps in the results.txt file.  
14) The results file is now named results.txt, not results.  

New features in Version 14.3 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  The Pentium Pro factoring code is nearly twice as fast compared
    to version 14.2.

New features in Version 14.2 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  Corrected floating point round-off bugs in the factoring code that
    affected testing factors larger than 2^59.
2)  The Pentium factoring code is 5-10% faster.
3)  When an error is detected the program now waits 5 minutes before
    restarting from the last save file.
4)  The detection of corrupt save files has improved.
5)  The Advanced/Time feature now displays the estimated time to test
    an exponent.

New features in Version 14.1 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  The Pentium factoring code is 5% faster.

New features in Version 14.0 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  The program can now check exponents up to 5.26 million!  To test
    these big exponents, you will need a new database and great patience.
2)  The per-iteration error checking code has been improved.  It will
    detect more errors and automatically restart from the previous save
    file.
3)  Options/Tray Icon can be used to have prime95 occupy just a small
    part of the taskbar.
4)  Options/No Icon can be used to have prime95 removed from the taskbar.
    Read the warnings in the readme file before using this feature.
5)  Options/Preferences now has a checkbox to let you send results to
    a file called "results.txt" rather than "results".
6)  Options/CPU now has a Cyrix checkbox.  There is no Cyrix-specific
    code.  This change provides better estimates in Range/Status.
7)  Options/Torture Test runs a continuous Self Test.  This is great
    for "burning in" a new machine.
8)  The Round-off checking menu choice (which should be turned off)
    was moved to the Advanced menu.
9)  The estimates in Range/Status have been changed slightly.  Hopefully,
    these new estimate are a little more accurate.
10) The Options/Self Test option now takes nine hours.

New features in Version 13.2 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  Minor adjustments made to the per-iteration error checking code.
    It was occasionally raising a FATAL ERROR when it should not have been.

New features in Version 13.1 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  Faster!  Prime now supports a wider variety of FFT run lengths.
    This means Lucas-Lehmer tests on exponents between 1.33M and 2.33M
    will be 13 to 40% faster.

New features in Version 12.4 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  A minor bug in the Pentium factoring code has been fixed.
2)  When creating an intermediate file, instead of deleting the previous
    intermediate file it is renamed just in case there is a machine crash
    before the new intermediate file is written to disk.
3)  Factoring is now 6% faster.
4)  The program is now "network-enabled".  See network.txt for more details.

New features in Version 12.3 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  The -h command line argument is now available.

2)  Save files are generated every half-hour when factoring.

New features in Version 12.2 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  A minor bug in the factoring code has been fixed.

New features in Version 12.1 of prime95.exe
-------------------------------------------

1)  Command line arguments are now available to help you run the program
    on your co-worker's machines!


New features in Version 12 of prime95.exe
-----------------------------------------

1)  The program is faster!  Expect to see improvements of 8 to 15%.
    The faster your CPU, the more improvement you should notice.
    The program also uses less memory.
2)  There are now 5 separate hour-long self tests - one for each
    possible FFT length.  You will run one of the new one-hour
    self tests even if you passed the self test in the previous version.
3)  The program can now test exponents as high as 2,630,000!
4)  The user interface has changed.
	a) You no longer enter a 3 or 4 digit range.  Rather you enter
	   an explicit starting and stopping point.  For example, in
	   the previous version you would enter 1234 for the range.
	   In this version you enter a starting point of 1234000 and
	   an ending point of 1234999.
	   This makes it much easier to "check out" just part of a range.
	   It also makes it easier to split a range among two or more
	   machines.
	b) The "Only Find Factors" checkbox has been replaced.  Use
	   the Range / Factor menu choice instead.
	c) The Range / Double Check menu choice has been added for those
	   of you who are double checking previously checked exponents.
	d) The Advanced / Password menu choice is now used to activate
	   the rest of the Advanced menu.
5)  The program now performs two new error checks every iteration!  These
    will help guard against memory errors or "cosmic ray" errors.
    These new checks will not catch all such problems but should catch the
    vast majority.


New features in Version 10 of prime95.exe
-----------------------------------------

1)  The program will now undergo an hour long self-test before
    running any Lucas-Lehmer tests in your selected range.
    This self-test is also available from the menus.  You might
    want to run this when you install new hardware or device
    drivers.
2)  You can now get a status report on your range.  Choose Range
    Status from the menus to get a report on the number of Mersenne
    numbers left to test, expected time to completion, etc.  This
    information is also displayed whenever you choose a new range
    with Range Start or Range Next.
3)  The File menu has been renamed Range - it seems clearer to beginners.
4)  The Advanced menu has been disabled.  You must read the readme.txt
    file to learn how to activate it.  This is designed to keep novice
    users out of trouble.  There is no reason, other than curiosity, for
    you to use any of the Advanced menu choices.
5)  A bug in stopping and continuing when factoring in Version 8 has
    been fixed.


New features in Version 8 of prime95.exe
----------------------------------------

1)  Factoring speed has been doubled for Pentiums.  486 machines will
    notice a 15% improvement when factoring.
2)  The program will now automatically determine your CPU type and speed.
    This information is used in choosing the optimal factoring algorithm.