The first Release Candidate version of Pleco 2.0 is finally available; this version is as bug-free as we can make it, we've fixed (or attempted to fix) every reproducible bug reported to us and every bug we've found on our own, so assuming no major new bugs crop up we should be releasing it officially and publicly as Pleco 2.0 within another week or two.
The software version number on this is 2.0b8, we're choosing not to start a separate version numbering for release candidates since we're hoping not to have to do more than one of them. Two major changes release-schedule-wise, however: there's no longer any expiration date built into the software, and the beta directory is no longer password-protected, though of course you still need to come here to find the download links.
Software-wise, the changes in this are pretty minimal since b7d (just a few bug fixes), but if you haven't updated since b7 you should see a lot of improvements.
The dictionary data files have gotten some significant upgrades; we've cleaned up some glitches in the ABC, Guifan, 21st Century, and HanDeDict files, updated HanDeDict and CEDICT to newer database versions (let us know if you run into any problems with flashcards based on them - this is the first big test of our Entry ID system with free dictionaries), and most importantly, the Oxford dictionaries now have full traditional-character support, instead of the partial support in previous 2.0 releases. If you've created flashcards in 2.0 based on the Oxford dictionaries, you'll want to run them through the "Rebuild" batch command in order to update their records in the flashcard database with those traditional characters.
The male audio files have had a bunch of mistakes fixed (about a hundred or so recordings that didn't match their associated Pinyin) and were also re-encoded with a higher-quality compression setting that should result in big improvements in sound quality (consonants like b/d should be a lot easier to distinguish); they now also correctly check for words that start with 不 versus other words with the exact same Pinyin (bu4dao4/bu4dui4/bu4zhi4 etc) and only play the sandhi tone transformed version with the former.
The usual warnings about crashes / damage to your data / handheld / etc with a beta version still apply, though since it's been a while since we've actually had any bugs of that level of severity reported to us you're probably pretty safe at this point.
File Packages
Windows Mobile Automated Install: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pc2b8.exe (156 MB)
Windows Mobile Manual Install: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pc2b8.zip (171 MB)
Palm OS Manual Install: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pp2b8.zip (177 MB)
(these correspond to the "Automated" and "Manual" "Full" versions of the installer in the Windows Mobile installation guide and the "Windows" "Full" version from the Palm OS installation guide).
Applications-only update: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b8-appsonly.zip (5 MB)
Offline instruction manual (included in all of the above except for the WM Automated Install): http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b8-manual.zip (2.5 MB)
Online instruction manual: http://www.pleco.com/beta/manual/
Free add-on dictionaries: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b8-freedicts.zip (38.6 MB)
Extended audio files: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b8-extaudio.zip (179 MB) There's no automated installer for these audio files yet, so if you're using WM you'll need to copy them over manually. The basic audio files are included in the three big download packages above.
Note that all of the audio files in these downloads are with the male speaker only; due to the serious background noise issues with the female audio files, we're choosing to make them an "add-on" instead of part of the main software distribution, at least for now. Sometime after 2.0 is out we do intend to update them to fix the obvious mistakes and use higher-quality audio compression, but we didn't think it was worth holding up the release of 2.0 to do that. You can get the current versions of those files from the beta 7 audio files (basic files here and extended files here) - ignore the male files in these downloads, since the ones in b8 are higher-quality and have fewer mistakes.
One other little file that we'd appreciate a few Windows Mobile users trying out: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pcunlock.exe (0.1 MB) - this is just the "Unlock Pleco" part of the Windows Mobile Automated installer packaged up in its own little application, so it basically just prompts you to find your keyfile and copies that keyfile over to your WM handheld. We're thinking about attaching this to order confirmation e-mails for the Windows Mobile version, since the current system of copying over files seems to confuse a lot of people.
New Upgrader Instructions
The installation instructions in the manual are pretty accurate now (though the packages for the Card-based and Mac installations haven't been uploaded yet), but the procedure for getting a keyfile to unlock 2.0 differs a bit from the one in the 2.0 upgrade guide. To activate your Pleco 2.0 upgrade, go to http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2orders.html, log in with your "My Orders" email/password, then enter your System ID (obtained from the Ordering screen after installing 2.0) in the form on that page to receive your 2.0 keyfile. 2.0-specific dictionary and other upgrades can be purchased from that page after you activate 2.0.
If you haven't bought Pleco yet, you can buy a copy of 1.0 Professional or Complete from our online store and then immediately activate your free 2.0 upgrade from that page above (your My Orders password will be in your order confirmation e-mail). You can also order the new 2.0 Linguist bundle (ABC/21st Century/Guifan dictionaries) from this page for Palm OS or this page for Pocket PC; you'll still need a 1.0 Device ID to place that order, but you'll get the correct combination of dictionaries once you activate 2.0.
The software version number on this is 2.0b8, we're choosing not to start a separate version numbering for release candidates since we're hoping not to have to do more than one of them. Two major changes release-schedule-wise, however: there's no longer any expiration date built into the software, and the beta directory is no longer password-protected, though of course you still need to come here to find the download links.
Software-wise, the changes in this are pretty minimal since b7d (just a few bug fixes), but if you haven't updated since b7 you should see a lot of improvements.
The dictionary data files have gotten some significant upgrades; we've cleaned up some glitches in the ABC, Guifan, 21st Century, and HanDeDict files, updated HanDeDict and CEDICT to newer database versions (let us know if you run into any problems with flashcards based on them - this is the first big test of our Entry ID system with free dictionaries), and most importantly, the Oxford dictionaries now have full traditional-character support, instead of the partial support in previous 2.0 releases. If you've created flashcards in 2.0 based on the Oxford dictionaries, you'll want to run them through the "Rebuild" batch command in order to update their records in the flashcard database with those traditional characters.
The male audio files have had a bunch of mistakes fixed (about a hundred or so recordings that didn't match their associated Pinyin) and were also re-encoded with a higher-quality compression setting that should result in big improvements in sound quality (consonants like b/d should be a lot easier to distinguish); they now also correctly check for words that start with 不 versus other words with the exact same Pinyin (bu4dao4/bu4dui4/bu4zhi4 etc) and only play the sandhi tone transformed version with the former.
The usual warnings about crashes / damage to your data / handheld / etc with a beta version still apply, though since it's been a while since we've actually had any bugs of that level of severity reported to us you're probably pretty safe at this point.
File Packages
Windows Mobile Automated Install: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pc2b8.exe (156 MB)
Windows Mobile Manual Install: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pc2b8.zip (171 MB)
Palm OS Manual Install: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pp2b8.zip (177 MB)
(these correspond to the "Automated" and "Manual" "Full" versions of the installer in the Windows Mobile installation guide and the "Windows" "Full" version from the Palm OS installation guide).
Applications-only update: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b8-appsonly.zip (5 MB)
Offline instruction manual (included in all of the above except for the WM Automated Install): http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b8-manual.zip (2.5 MB)
Online instruction manual: http://www.pleco.com/beta/manual/
Free add-on dictionaries: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b8-freedicts.zip (38.6 MB)
Extended audio files: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2b8-extaudio.zip (179 MB) There's no automated installer for these audio files yet, so if you're using WM you'll need to copy them over manually. The basic audio files are included in the three big download packages above.
Note that all of the audio files in these downloads are with the male speaker only; due to the serious background noise issues with the female audio files, we're choosing to make them an "add-on" instead of part of the main software distribution, at least for now. Sometime after 2.0 is out we do intend to update them to fix the obvious mistakes and use higher-quality audio compression, but we didn't think it was worth holding up the release of 2.0 to do that. You can get the current versions of those files from the beta 7 audio files (basic files here and extended files here) - ignore the male files in these downloads, since the ones in b8 are higher-quality and have fewer mistakes.
One other little file that we'd appreciate a few Windows Mobile users trying out: http://www.pleco.com/beta/pcunlock.exe (0.1 MB) - this is just the "Unlock Pleco" part of the Windows Mobile Automated installer packaged up in its own little application, so it basically just prompts you to find your keyfile and copies that keyfile over to your WM handheld. We're thinking about attaching this to order confirmation e-mails for the Windows Mobile version, since the current system of copying over files seems to confuse a lot of people.
New Upgrader Instructions
The installation instructions in the manual are pretty accurate now (though the packages for the Card-based and Mac installations haven't been uploaded yet), but the procedure for getting a keyfile to unlock 2.0 differs a bit from the one in the 2.0 upgrade guide. To activate your Pleco 2.0 upgrade, go to http://www.pleco.com/beta/pd2orders.html, log in with your "My Orders" email/password, then enter your System ID (obtained from the Ordering screen after installing 2.0) in the form on that page to receive your 2.0 keyfile. 2.0-specific dictionary and other upgrades can be purchased from that page after you activate 2.0.
If you haven't bought Pleco yet, you can buy a copy of 1.0 Professional or Complete from our online store and then immediately activate your free 2.0 upgrade from that page above (your My Orders password will be in your order confirmation e-mail). You can also order the new 2.0 Linguist bundle (ABC/21st Century/Guifan dictionaries) from this page for Palm OS or this page for Pocket PC; you'll still need a 1.0 Device ID to place that order, but you'll get the correct combination of dictionaries once you activate 2.0.