From: John Stone (johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu)
Date: Fri Jun 21 2002 - 16:14:14 CDT

Dear VMD-L,
  We have just made a new VMD 1.8 alpha 16 pre-release
version which is available for downloading in the downloads
area off of the VMD web site:
  http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/
  http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Development/Download/download.cgi?PackageName=VMD

This new test version includes many bug fixes and several new features.
A full log of our VMD 1.8 development progress is available here:
  http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/vmd-1.8/devel.html

New GUI elements have replaced the old labels form and the old mouse menu.
Several enhancements were made to the Interactive MD code and this
pre-release version includes a new "autoimd" plugin which makes running
IMD simulations easier. (contact us for information on setting it up
for your computer system, as autoimd currently requires manual customization
in order to work properly.)

The new 1.8a16 code now includes a native version of VMD for MacOS X.
Though we have built and posted the new native MacOS X binary, those people
interested in trying it out will need to contact us for further assistance
in installing it, because of complications with the resource fork on the
application binary, which has to be re-created after installation from the
normal tar file. We are working on a new distribution mechanism specifically
supporting the native version of VMD on MacOS X, but it is not yet ready and
so for the time being those interested in testing the native version on
MacOS will need to contact us for more help. The native version still
has some GUI performance issues which are also being worked on, but the
OpenGL performance of the native version is GREAT compared to what was
possible with the old Mesa implementation based on XFree.

We are particularly interested in feedback regarding the new
graphical user interfaces, and any bugs or crashes you find in this
new test version of VMD.

Thanks!
  John Stone
  vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu

-- 
NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Email: johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu                 Phone: 217-244-3349              
  WWW: http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/      Fax: 217-244-6078