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[ANNOUNCEMENT] X11R7.4


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(Resending here because it wasn't echoed at the time and obviously a lot
of people haven't seen it.)

Cygwin/X has been updated to X.Org X11R7.4.


WHAT'S NEW IN X11R7.4?
======================

* Each program, library, set of headers, set of fonts, etc., has its own
package, for a total of around 250 binary packages.  This sounds like a
lot, but most are optional, very small and only occasionally updated.

* The standard /usr prefix is now used.  Other Cygwin packages that use
/usr/X11R6 should be rebuilt and updated in the coming weeks.

* Fonts have been moved to /usr/share/fonts.

* libX11 is based on XCB.

* Support for a number of X extensions which were long ago deprecated
upstream have been removed.


FEATURES AND NOTES
==================

* Multiwindow mode includes several enhancements:

- - application icons with transparent backgrounds are properly rendered;
- - WM hints (e.g. no window decoration) are better followed;
- - shaped windows are displayed properly;
- - window styles can be customized in the .XWinrc file.

* The Composite extension has been enabled, with the following caveats:

- - Compositing cannot be used in multiwindow mode;
- - A compositing manager (xcompmgr) with an ordinary window manager, or a
compositing window manager (e.g. metacity or xfwm4), is required.
- - OpenGL windows do not always render correctly when a compositing
manager is running.
- - When a compositing manager is running, the root window becomes a
silver colour which cannot be changed through xsetroot(1).  Desktop
environment wallpapers are handled differently and still work.

Here's a screenshot from a local instance of Xfce 4.6-beta1:

https://sourceforge.net/project/screenshots.php?group_id=99645

* The WindowsWM extension is currently disabled, as neither xwinwm nor
the supporting code in the xserver currently build.  This may be
restored in a future release.

* The XVideo extension is currently disabled.  There is some
skeleton code in the server, but it doesn't do anything yet.

* Hardware-accelerated OpenGL (XWin_GL) is not currently available.

* XWin uses the new X.Org logo as the icon, and its dialogs have a
modern look on Windows XP.

* The Xephyr and Xfake kdrive servers are available in addition to the
classic Xnest and Xvfb servers.


DEPRECATIONS
============

These X extensions, and their related packages, are no longer available:

DPS
library: libdpstk1
Removed upstream before 6.9/7.0; a compatibility runtime package exists
for the few packages still using it until they are rebuilt.

DMX
library: libdmx
programs: Xdmx server, dmx* clients
Recently deprecated upstream because it hasn't been updated to the
current server APIs.  It may be restored in the future, but it's too
soon to determine a timeframe.

FontCache
library: libXfontcache
Deprecated long ago and recently removed upstream.  Nothing currently in
the distro was using it.

Font server
library: libFS
programs: fslsfonts, fstobdf, showfont, xfs, xfsinfo
Deprecated upstream.  Server-side fonts, used by Xt/Xaw/Motif apps, are
still available.

LBX
library: liblbxutil
programs: lbxproxy
Removed upstream in 2006.

XFree86-BigFont
Recently removed upstream.

Xinerama
library: libXinerama
This extension is being replaced by recent enhancements to XRandR.

Xprint
libraries: libXp, libXprintAppUtil, libXprintUtil
programs: Xprt server, xphelloworld, xplsprinters, xprehashprinterlist
Long ago deprecated in favour of client-side solutions, this was
recently removed upstream.  This also affects Xaw programs, as Xaw8 used
the Xprint API (in fact, this was the sole difference between it and
Xaw7).  All X.Org programs have been rebuilt for Xaw7; other packages
will need to be rebuilt.  In the meantime, libXaw8 and libXp6 packages
exist for compatibility.

XTrap
library: libXTrap
programs: xtrap
Replaced upstream by Record/XTest, it was recently removed.  Nothing in
the distro was using it.

Other deprecated libraries and programs:

liboldX: X11 is 21 years old already!

libOSMesa4: mesa now provides libOSMesa7; nothing in the distro depends
on the old library.

libxkbui: Was only used by xorgcfg, which isn't present on Cygwin and is
disappearing upstream anyway.

xsetpointer: Replaced by xinput.


UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
====================

1) Before upgrading, check if /usr/include/X11 and /usr/lib/X11 are
symlinks or directories.  If they are symlinks, remove them manually.

2) Take note of the programs you use from /usr/X11R6/bin; you will need
to choose them for installation later.

3) If you use programs in /usr/X11R6/bin which are NOT from the
xorg-x11-* packages, add /usr/X11R6/bin to the PATH variable in your
preferred shell (e.g. for bash, in ~/.bashrc).

4) Follow the normal download/install procedure with setup.exe; packages
are all in the X11 category.

setup.exe will automatically upgrade as follows:

X-startup-scripts -> xinit
xorg-x11-bin-dlls -> libX11_6
xorg-x11-bin-lndir -> lndir
xorg-x11-devel -> libX11-devel
xorg-x11-f100 -> font-bitstream-dpi100
xorg-x11-fcyr -> font-misc-cyrillic
xorg-x11-fenc -> font-encodings
xorg-x11-fnts -> font-bitstream-dpi75
xorg-x11-fscl -> font-bitstream-type1
xorg-x11-man-pages* -> xorg-docs
xorg-x11-{nest,vfb,xwin} -> xorg-server

Correct library dependencies for all programs from the distro will be
automatically selected for install.

Installation of the following components is up to you:

* fonts (all fonts packages are named font-<author/class>-<fonttype>);

* programs (with a few exceptions, each program has its own package; if
you can't find something, use http://cygwin.com/packages/ to search.);

* runtime libraries for packages not installed from the distro;

* libdevel packages;

* development tools (e.g. imake, xorg-util-macros).


FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
===================

Development of Cygwin/X is primarily focused on the XWin server; most
other components are extremely stable and work OOTB.  Anyone who
despaired of touching the monolithic tree will find things much easier
now with modular packages.  If you want to see XWin stay current and add
new features, then WE NEED YOU.  Here are some of the projects that
could be worked on:

* Update the Cygwin/X website.
* Fix remaining quirks with shaped windows in multiwindow.
* Fix Qt4 program icons in multiwindow.
* Review and integrate remaining packages from Xming.
* Fix the few bugs in Composite in rooted mode.
* Fix WindowsWM/xwinwm.
* Continue development of hardware-accelerated GLX extension, DirectDraw
engine, and native GDI engine.
* Implement the XVideo extension.
* Implement newest XRandR protocol.
* Compositing in multiwindow mode (using Win2K+ window transparency).


FEEDBACK
========

All comments, questions, bug reports, patches, discussion, etc. should
take place on the cygwin-xfree@ list.


CREDITS
=======

Jon Turney for stepping up and organizing everyone else's patches, and
adding several more of his own.

Colin Harrison for permission to use his Xming patches.

Janjaap Bos for pinpointing the font-finding problem to weak symbol
handling in libXfont, and providing a patch to port XWin to the new
input API.

Larry Hall for continuing to answer questions on cygwin-xfree@ while
there was no maintainer.

Previous Cygwin/X leaders Alan Hourihane, Alexander Gottwald, and Harold
L Hunt II, and all other previous maintainers and contributors.

And whomever else I may have inadvertently neglected to mention.


Enjoy!


Yaakov
Cygwin/X coordinator


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