The second Alpha version of the new TeXnicCenter 2.0 has been released today. It is not stable, very likely to crash and intended for testing only. It’s designed to work alongside TeXnicCenter Version 1, both can be used when installed in different directories.

Many issues of Alpha 1 have been fixed. For more information about improvements and known issues read the announcement of the TeXnicCenter Team.

This text is available in German. Dieser Text ist auch in Deutsch verfügbar.

The source code of EtherPad, a web-based word processor that allows people to work together in real-time, has been released by the developers. Now it’s possible to run EtherPad on other servers than just etherpad.com. Alternative servers like the swedish PiratePad have already been established.

This collaborative editor provides an update speed of twice a second making it very responsive. Though it’s a plain text editor it could be used to produce LaTeX code collaboratively. There are already semi-automatic solutions using perl and ruby. Together with an online compiler EtherPad could be a useful feature in LaTeX discussion forums helping to solve user’s problems and to develop solutions.

The maintenance release 1.6.5 of LyX has been published yesterday. It brings bug-fixes, new layouts and modules and some feature requests have been implemented. The LyX team recommends to upgrade to this version.

For more information and download visit:

• the LyX Homepage,
• the announcement containing a detailed list of changes,
• the download area.

After development and many weeks of testing, final bug fixing and translations the new TeX Live 2009 has been released today.

Some changes and improvements in 2009:

• pdf(La)TeX now automatically converts included eps files to pdf, using the epstopdf package, if graphics.cfg is loaded and pdf output is chosen.
• The execution of certain external commands, for example epstopdf, makeindex, and bibtex, using \write18, is now enabled by default. The texmf.cnf file determines those commands.
• Updated AMS Type 1 fonts are included, the Euler fonts have been reshaped.
• The new editor TeXworks is included for Windows and MacTeX. Other distributions like Ubuntu and Debian Linux will provide this cross-platform editor with their own packaging system.
• Asymptote is included for several platforms.
• dvipdfm has been replaced by dvipdfmx.
• pdf is now the default output format for Lua(La)TeX. dvi output can be achieved by using the new executables dviluatex and dvilualatex.

In my opinion it’s a big step forward because several Linux Distributions like Ubuntu and Debian Linux are clinging to TL 2007 until now. While TL 2008 has been skipped the packaging for TL 2009 for Debian and Ubuntu is in progress, thanks to the work of especially Norbert Preining and Frank Küster. Though v2008 and v2009 worked fine on Linux it’s important to provide TeX with the distribution repositories, less workarounds will be necessary.

This text is available in German. Dieser Text ist auch in Deutsch verfügbar.

Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop, Server and Netbook editions have been released today. The new version is starting even faster than the previous one, is using the ext4 file system by default, the GNOME 2.28 desktop environment and the GRUB 2 boot manager, it comes with a lot of software updates. Outstanding are the new Ubuntu Software Center and Ubuntu One, the cloud system. To learn about the new features have a look at the feature overview.

To download Ubuntu 9.10 or to obtain CDs see: Get Ubuntu. For instructions on upgrading visit: Upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10.
Upgrades to the latest version of Ubuntu are entirely free of charge as always.

To get more information, visit www.ubuntu.com.

Karmic Koala is coming, its release is scheduled for tomorrow, Ubuntu user groups all around the world will celebrate the release with parties, so we will do in Berlin.

For the 8th time the Ubuntu-Berlin user group will give a party at their favorite hacker location c-base. It will take place on Saturday, October 31st, entry is free. Talks and presentations will be held, Ubuntu 9.10 can be tested, help for installation will be given, experienced users will answer questions. WLAN is available for free. Every time I’ve been there, several times during the years, it has been a very pleasant evening.

If you’re interested but cannot come to Berlin, have a look at the world wide release parties list or visit the Party map.

The new version TexmakerX 1.9.2 has been released today. This version brings several new features and fixes some bugs. TexmakerX is a fork of the LaTeX editor Texmaker. It has adopted changes of the original Texmaker 1.9.2 and provides further features like preview for marked text, a random text generator, a synonym dictionary, improved usability, new templates and symbols and more.

This text is available in German. Dieser Text ist auch in Deutsch verfügbar.

The first alpha version of the upcoming Version 2.0 of the LaTeX editor TeXnicCenter has been released today. It is a development version, not stable, just released for testing, but it shows that the development is in progress and it gives an impression of the new version.

Some of the new features are:

• a new editor component based on Scintilla providing zoom, proportional fonts and code folding,
• Unicode support to enable writing in Russian, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, …
• improved modern user interface, the tool windows could be rearranged,
• improved BibTeX support regarding error parsing, search in literature tool window.

TXC 2.0 has been developed with Visual Studio 2008, not with the free version because access to the MFC is needed. Help in development is welcome, if you’re interested contact the maintainer Tino Weinkauf.

For more information and download visit

• the announcement of Tino containing further information about known issues,
• the download page,
• the TeXnicCenter homepage,
• the review of TXC 2.0 alpha by Thorsten on LaTeX-Community.org.

This text is available in German. Dieser Text ist auch in Deutsch verfügbar.

The first update to REVTeX since 2001 has been released yesterday, today it’s been uploaded to CTAN. REVTeX 4.1 is a set of LaTeX2e macro packages. It is especially well-suited for preparing manuscripts for submission to the journals of the American Physical Society (APS) and American Institute of Physics (AIP). The Version 4.1 brings bug fixes, improved functionality and support for a wider range of journals.

For more information, download and documentation including update info and FAQ visit the REVTeX 4 homepage.

The German Ubuntu Linux User Conference “Ubucon” will be held for the third time in Göttingen, hosted by the Georg August University, October 19-22, 2009.

The conference program includes three LaTeX events:

• LaTeX in the year 2009: talk about new TeX software and features like TeX Live 2009, Biber, Asymptote, LuaTeX and XeTeX, further small tools will be presented. Friday, 4-6pm.
• LaTeX introduction for new users: a workshop introducing the LaTeX system, presenting basic features and commands. Users are encouraged to bring their own laptops to the workshop for participation. Saturday, 9-11am.
• Producing magazines with LaTeX: a workshop for advanced users dealing with layout topics like wrapping text around figures with the goal of creating a magazine. Users should join with a laptop. Saturday, 11-13am.

For further information like program, accommodation and news visit the Ubucon Homepage.

This text is available in German. Dieser Text ist auch in Deutsch verfügbar.