A new COBOL compiler for Windows has been added to the Free COBOL Compilers and Interpreters page. This compiler implements ANSI-74 COBOL with some features from ANSI-85 and ISO 1989:2002. If you're learning the COBOL computer language or want to write programs in COBOL, check it out.
A new ping software has been added to the Free Graphical Ping Utilities to Check Network Connections page. Ping is often used as a rough test to see if a particular host (such as a website) on the network is reachable or alive. While most operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, already come with command line ping software , these Ping tools have a graphical interface and often include additional facilities not present in the built-in programs. All the programs listed on the page are free.
A new screen reader has been added to the Free Screen Readers: Text to Speech Conversion page. Screen readers read whatever is displayed on your monitor aloud, so that the blind can use computers to read and write documents, surf the Internet, etc. If you are a webmaster, you can also use such readers to test your website to make sure it is accessible to the blind.
Do you fancy creating your own PDF ebook? Or perhaps you simply want to convert a document into the PDF format? Check out the newest entry in the Free PDF Converters, Editors and Printer Drivers page. There are now 11 PDF conversion tools on that page, so even if you don't like the latest addition, there are many others to choose from. Besides, they are all free: you can get them all if you like.
Do you have a huge file that you want to send someone but find that it is too large to attach in an email? The newest utility to be added to the Free File Splitters and Joiners page lets you split that file into smaller chunks so that it can be transmitted to someone else and provides an easy-to-use way for them to reassemble the file back together again. It even checks the integrity of the file after recombining it to make sure it's identical to the original.
A new C library that lets you easily write 2D graphical games (complete with sound) on Linux has been added to the Free 2D and 3D Game Engines, Games Programming Libraries and Source Code page. There are also other free libraries on that page that let you write games for other systems, like Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, etc.
After nearly 11 million downloads of WordPress 3.0 in just 42 days, we’re releasing WordPress 3.0.1. The requisite haiku:
Three dot oh dot one
Bug fixes to make you smile
Update your WordPress
This maintenance release addresses about 50 minor issues. The testing many of you contributed prior to the release of 3.0 helped make it one of the best and most stable releases we’ve had.
Download 3.0.1 or update automatically from the Dashboard > Updates menu in your site’s admin area.
Note: If you downloaded 3.0.1 in the first 20 minutes of release (before 2200 UTC), you’ll want to reinstall it, which you can do right from your Updates screen. Our bad.
A new C cross-compiler for the AVR series of microprocessors has been added to the Free C/C++ Compilers and Cross-Compilers for Microcontrollers, PDA, Calculators, Embedded Systems and Other Devices page. This one is hosted on Windows. Note: if you're just looking for an ordinary C or C++ compiler for your computer, please see the Free C/C++ Compilers and Interpreters page instead.
Do you have this nagging feeling that you have multiple copies of the same file on your computer, possibly under different filenames? Now you can find out, and get rid of the duplicates if you wish, with the latest software to be added to the Free Find / Delete Duplicate Files Utilities. This program checks the file on your system for duplicates, even if those files are in diverse locations, with different filenames and dates. It allows you to clean up your system and free your disk space.
Our approach with WordPress has always been to make it run on common server configurations. We want users to have flexibility when choosing a host for their precious content. Because of this strategy, WordPress runs pretty much anywhere. Web hosting platforms, however, change over time, and we occasionally are able to reevaluate some of the requirements for running WordPress. Now is one of those times. You probably guessed it from the title — we’re finally ready to announce the end of support for PHP 4 and MySQL 4!
First up, the announcement that developers really care about. WordPress 3.1, due in late 2010, will be the last version of WordPress to support PHP 4.
For WordPress 3.2, due in the first half of 2011, we will be raising the minimum required PHP version to 5.2. Why 5.2? Because that’s what the vast majority of WordPress users are using, and it offers substantial improvements over earlier PHP 5 releases. It is also the minimum PHP version that the Drupal and Joomla projects will be supporting in their next versions, both due out this year.
The numbers are now, finally, strongly in favor of this move. Only around 11 percent of WordPress installs are running on a PHP version below 5.2. Many of them are on hosts who support PHP 5.2 — users merely need to change a setting in their hosting control panel to activate it. We believe that percentage will only go down over the rest of the year as hosting providers realize that to support the newest versions of WordPress (or Drupal, or Joomla), they’re going to have to pull the trigger.
In less exciting news, we are also going to be dropping support for MySQL 4 after WordPress 3.1. Fewer than 6 percent of WordPress users are running MySQL 4. The new required MySQL version for WordPress 3.2 will be 5.0.15.
WordPress users will not be able to upgrade to WordPress 3.2 if their hosting environment does not meet these requirements (the built-in updater will prevent it). In order to determine which versions your host provides, we’ve created the Health Check plugin. You can download it manually, or use this handy plugin installation tool I whipped up. Right now, Health Check will only tell you if you’re ready for WordPress 3.2. In a future release it will provide all sorts of useful information about your server and your WordPress install, so hang on to it!
In summary: WordPress 3.1, due in late 2010, will be the last version of WordPress to support PHP 4 and MySQL 4. WordPress 3.2, due in the first half of 2011, will require PHP 5.2 or higher, and MySQL 5.0.15 or higher. Install the Health Check plugin to see if you’re ready!