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+.HTML "Plan 9 — Third Edition Release Notes
+.TL
+Plan 9 From Bell Labs
+.br
+Third Release Notes
+.br
+June 7, 2000
+.LP
+.sp -.4i
+.nf
+.ce 1000
+Copyright © 2000 Lucent Technologies Inc.
+All Rights Reserved
+.sp .2i
+.fi
+.LP
+The third release of the Plan 9 operating system from Bell Labs
+is something of a snapshot of the current system.
+This differs from the previous, 1995 release,
+which was a more coordinated, well-defined release of an already-out-of-date
+system.
+Also, the previous releases were distributed on fixed media, while this release
+is being done over the web.
+The other major difference is that the third release is licensed under
+an open source agreement, which we hope will encourage people
+to experiment with it.
+.LP
+Beyond that, there are innumerable little changes throughout the code.
+Although superficially it is the same environment, there is hardly an aspect
+of the system that has not been redesigned, rewritten, or replaced.
+The following is an incomplete list of changes.
+.de Xx
+.LP
+\(bu
+..
+.Xx
+The list of architectures has changed; more compilers are included
+and the list of kernels has changed.
+There is solid support for Intel x86 multiprocessors.
+Also, although the sources are available for
+other architectures, the binaries and libraries are built only for the
+Intel x86 architectures.
+Kernel source is available for x86, Mips, DEC Alpha, and Power PC architectures.
+Compilers also exist for AMD 29000, Motorola MC68000 and MC68020,
+Intel i960, and SPARC.
+(Unlike the the last release, no SPARC kernel exists for the current system.)
+The compilers and related tools
+have been made easier to port to Unix and Windows.
+.Xx
+The kernel now has a file cache to improve I/O performance.
+Other kernel changes include the replacement of the streams interface
+with a simpler, faster, but less flexible I/O queue structure.
+The x86 kernels support PCI and PCMCIA devices.
+.Xx
+Network management has been simplified and generalized.
+DNS supports a resolver mode and the DNS server is now solid.
+DHCP is supported both at the client and server ends.
+The system can handle multiple IP stacks, which are also
+no longer Ethernet-specific.
+.Xx
+The organization of disks in the kernel has been unified, providing
+a consistent interface to all disks and controllers: SCSI or ATAPI,
+magnetic or CD-ROM.
+.Xx
+File offsets, such as in the
+.CW seek
+system call, are now 64-bit values.
+The 1995 release defined the type
+.CW Length
+for the x86 as
+.P1
+typedef union
+{
+	char	clength[8];
+	vlong	vlength;
+	struct
+	{
+		long	hlength;
+		long	length;
+	};
+} Length;
+.P2
+which is the wrong byte order.
+Now, for all architectures,
+.CW Length
+is well handled by a
+.CW vlong
+.CW long "" (
+.CW long )
+type, although for compatibility it's still held in a union:
+.P1
+typedef union
+{
+	vlong	length;
+} Length;
+.P2
+.Xx
+The kernel now maintains a file name associated with each open file or
+directory, which can be cheaply recovered by the
+.CW fd2path
+system call.
+Plan 9 now does a much better job with
+.CW ..
+(dot-dot).
+On a related note, a description of a process's name space may be
+read with the
+.CW ns
+file in
+.CW /proc ,
+or by the
+.CW ns
+command.
+.Xx
+The security model is the same, although
+the key format has changed.
+If you have an old key file, use
+.CW auth/convkeys2
+(see
+.I auth (8))
+to update it.
+There are new libraries for mulitprecision arithmetic and security.
+.Xx
+The graphics model is very different.
+It is based on the Porter-Duff compositing algebra rather than
+.CW bitblt ,
+and the system supports everything from bitmaps to true-color displays.
+Some of the graphics drivers exploit hardware acceleration.
+.Xx
+Coupled to the graphics changes, the image and font file formats have
+changed.
+They can represent a wider range of pixel formats and compress the data.
+Also the white/black sense of value is reversed (zero is now black; pixels
+represent light, not ink).
+Most of the tools can handle the old format, but they all write the new format only.
+.Xx
+The user interface now incorporates plumbing, a language-driven
+way for applications to communicate.  See
+.I plumb (6)
+for information.
+.Xx
+Building on plumbing and a program that presents the mail box as a file
+system, Plan 9 now has convenient support for MIME mail messages.
+.Xx
+.CW 8½
+has been replaced by
+.CW rio ,
+which has a similar appearance but a different architecture.
+Although still a file server, it is much more efficient: the kernel driver
+multiplexes graphics output so
+.CW rio
+is not in the display path.
+.CW Rio
+handles input and window control only.
+.Xx
+PC booting is more sophisticated.  PCs can now boot Plan 9 directly from
+the disk without running DOS.
+.Xx
+Alef is gone.
+It was deemed too difficult to maintain two sets of compilers and libraries
+for all architectures.
+Alef programs were translated into C, with the help of a new thread library
+that preserves much of Alef's functionality, but none of its syntax.
+.Xx
+Mothra is gone.  There is no web browser included in this release,
+but something may well appear before long.
+.Xx
+The
+.CW fb
+(frame buffer) suite is gone. Most of its tools are
+supplanted by new ones, such as
+.CW page ,
+.CW jpg ,
+and
+.CW togif .
+.Xx
+Also gone from this release are the games and support for
+international input
+.CW ktrans "" (
+etc.).
+Both may return.
+.Xx
+New things include an implementation of
+.CW ssh ,
+an IMAP4 server,
+and some spam-filtering software (see
+.I scanmail (8)).
+.LP
+There's lots more.
+If you have problems, mail
+.CW 9trouble@plan9.bell-labs.com .
+Please don't mail us individually.
+.LP
+Good Luck!