(This section is an informal list of changes that will be formally written before a release)
Among the improvements to the user interface:
Xastir now supports much more of the APRS(tm) protocol than its predecessor:
Other notable improvements:
The Xastir package now uses GNU autoconf to build makefiles and select features based on the libraries and software one has installed. No more editing makefiles as in previous releases!
Starting Xastir 1.0, one probably won't immediately notice any major changes. The familiar interface of previous Xastir versions has been retained for the most part. The great majority of the changes are improvements in efficiency under the hood:
Native GeoTIFF support is now included, and will be compiled into one's copy of Xastir if they have the GeoTIFF libraries installed on their system. These map files are of very high quality, and are especially useful in search and rescue operations. Maps on this format are available from the USGS, and commercially on CD-ROM. Xastir understands how to convert from the NAD-27 datum to the new WGS-84 datum, so maps of both format can be read accurately. New shortcut buttons have been added to the map selection dialog to enable one to pick all maps of a specific type.
Support for the Festival Speech Synthesis System is now available to announce new stations and band openings. The old system of alert sounds has been retained as well.
Xastir now supports adding and deleting objects. Finally, Xastir users are able to manage resources with this useful feature. Objects are helpful for coordinating events, directing travelers, and doing search and rescue work.
The County Warning Area maps that display weather alerts are no longer painted onto the maps below, but are shaded onto the maps. While this does make the colors unpredictable, it is now possible to see the road-maps below the alert!
A new and useful feature is the change in the orientation of a symbol based on the direction in which it is moving. Even without a trail, a quick glance can tell you a mobile station's bearing. There are several more new options in the display menu, enabling one to decide more precisely what is displayed and what isn't.
Panning and control over the map has been enhanced: There are now arrow buttons visible at the top of the screen to pan the map. The map can also be panned with the arrow keys, and the zoom can be adjusted with the page up and page down keys. There are new option in the click menu, to center the map where you clicked or to place an object where you clicked. The panning options in this menu have been removed in favor of the new controls at the top of the screen.
Support for altnet has been added, enabling one to have a private APRS(tm) network for special events, search and rescue, storm chasing, or whenever else the user doesn't want to be bothered by the hundreds of APRS(tm) stations around.
There are numerous small changes, both visible and invisible to the user. The interface control dialog now has a "Start all" and "Stop all" option, to save the user the time of performing these actions for each interface. The station setup dialog now shows you your symbol, so you don't have to exit the dialog to see which symbol you chose. Several buffer overflows that caused unpredictable behavior and/or crashes have been fixed. And many minor improvements have been made to the source code to ensure that it compiles correctly on various systems.