The primary focus of this version is better integration with the
Microsoft Windows operating system.
Virtual networks should now be detected as "real" networks. For
each network, a message box should pop up the first time the network
is detected and classified allowing the user to choose its services
and security designation. On Windows 7 this is "work," "home," or
"public." On Windows 8 it's a simple choice of whether or not to
enable file and printer sharing and other services.
Several bugs have been fixed. Among these are a Windows threading
issue, several minor threading deadlock issues that could manifest
if rapidly adding and removing networks, and a command line interface
issue. The network list now shows the network MAC address as well,
a UI oversight in previous versions. A vectorized SSE implementation
of Salsa20 is now included for improved encrypt/decrypt performance.
The sending of low-TTL "firewall opener" packets has been disabled
in this version, since they may not be necessary and may harm NAT
traversal in some configurations. We will measure the effectiveness
of NAT traversal and see if this change improves performance in the
field.
Finally, this version obsoletes both the Tokyo and Sydney supernodes
in favor of a single larger supernode in Singapore. This decision was
made on the basis of bandwidth costs-- both Tokyo and Sydney are
significantly more expensive. We'd like to keep the basic service free,
so keeping bandwidth costs for relaying low is important. Since NAT
traversal works well and is constantly being improved, most users will
not see a speed decrease from this. Some Chinese users may see
improved performance since Singapore may be closer than Tokyo to many
Chinese cities.
The next major releases will focus on better Macintosh platform integration,
further improvements to NAT traversal, and UI improvements.
