Squeak 3.8 is released!

It was a bit of a long time coming, thanks to
everyone who contributed in one way or another.

It is now available for download at

http://box1.squeakfoundation.org/files/3.8/

The following sites should provide pointers to the download soon
ftp://st.cs.uiuc.edu/Smalltalk/Squeak/3.8/
or the mirror in Magdeburg
ftp://ftp.cs.uni-magdeburg.de/pub/Smalltalk/Smalltalk/Squeak/3.8/
http://squeak.org (Official web site)
http://box1.squeakfoundation.org:7777/ (beta of new web site)


Squeak 3.8 is the first release that will continue to be maintained so
watch for more updates/fixes coming. ENH and larger changes will be
going into 3.9alpha.

This image comes with several packages pre-installed, like "Compiler",
"PackageInfo" and "SUnit" etc. These packages are most likely available
in newer versions when you unpack this image.

You can easily upgrade these packages using the Package Loader with the
menu choice "Upgrade all installed packages". To do this properly you
need to answer "yes" when the Package Loader asks for your confirmation
to install the package "Monticello" first.

Monticello is the premier source code management tool in the Squeak
community and it is already the de facto standard, so there is no harm
in installing it.  :)

Do not forget to save your updated image.


Here's a summary of the major new features in 3.8, copied from the
"What's New" section in the Welcome Window:
------------------------------------------------------------------
  	* The most significant change is the m17n (multilingualization)
support, UTF-x, multi byte strings etc by Yoshiki Ohshima
	* New translation framework with external translation files by Michael 
Rueger (based on Babel by Diego Gomez Deck)
	* String refactoring by Andreas Raab
	* Support for complex numbers (see class Complex) by Matej Kosik.
	* A new and improved progress bar from Alexander Lazarevic.
	* An added button to the debug notifier window called 'create' which 
simplifies programming "on the fly" by Ned Konz.
	* Support for PNM images.
	* Better inspectors including a specialized one for Sets from Peter 
Keeler and Andrew Black
	* PointerExplorer which is a new way to track parent objects from Avi 
Bryant.
	* Automatic user input to be able to script confirmation dialogs etc 
from John Pierce.
	* Conditional halts using #haltIf: from Marcus Denker
	* A new primitive call controller for disabling/enabling plugins by 
Stefan Rudlof.
	* A reimplementation of Allan Schiffman's timeout mechanism when
evaluating blocks by Brent Pinkney.
	* Simple benchmarking using BlockContext>>bench from Chris Muller.
	* Simple tracing using Object>>dpsTrace: from Trygve Reenskaug.	
	* Latest updates from the SqueakLand/Etoys world.
	* The usual numerous small enhancements and fixes.


Michael