I have changed the version number to 1.5.0.ALPHA because this release is quite different from previous versions. * rats nest have been greatly enhanced - including netlist verification * many new features have been added such as NC drill files created by my gerber X driver. * many bug fixes - it's pretty stable, but should still be considered ALPHA for now, since I'm the only one who's tested it. * the manual has been updated to describe the new features * I took some liberties to shrink the control panel so more screen area can be devoted to the layout view. * You can zoom in closer than 1:1 (up to 4:1), but only for small layouts. * It's based on the 1.4.5.ALPHA.3 release source tree Yet there is still work to be done: I don't know anything about RCS, so all of the version control strings are stale. I updated the pcb.texi.raw manual, but I didn't figure out tex well enough so it complains about some missing references and various other things - somebody please fix this up and send me a diff file. (Also there are no pre-formatted docs since tex doesn't process it cleanly). All element pins must appear in pin-number order in the files. I have updated the macros for the dil parts generation, but many other parts in the libraries still need to be fixed. While you're at it, take care to choose proper drill sizes for the actual pins. The gerberD driver doesn't work properly yet, it needs a serious rastering routine before the new polygon paradigm can be handled. I have included both my gerberX driver (which is fully functional, but can still stand to be improved) and also Andre's, which definitely doesn't work with the new polygon paradigm. Eventually there will only be one. Note to Andre - I'm still working on mine to use a common set of aperture macros and move all the macros to the header of the file. Send your comments, bug reports, diffs, etc. to me at haceaton@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu. There is a new example file (including it's net-list) in the example directory. It's called LED. Note that there is one line that starts out selected. This line connects the analog and digital grounds on the board, which are not listed as connected in the netlist. When the line is present the rats-nest feature will complain about the shorted nets. The example exercies pretty much all of the new features (it is presently being fabbed from the generated gerber X files). Thanks to Thomas who made it all possible, harry