Audacity Forum

What is the perceived improvement in the unstable version. I have tried both, and any problems I had were related to my own lack of knowledge about the systems(s), but I don't see what the big difference is.
1.3.3 was never unstable to me.............

Maybe its a stupid question, but ......................

New features in Audacity 1.3
Beta version

Audacity 1.3 Beta is our new, not quite finished, development version which will be the basis of our next "stable" version.

* Contains dozens of new, exciting features. Very occasionally, these might need final polishing or not be retained in later versions.
* Occasionally, a feature might not work as it did before, or might be temporarily disabled.
* Some parts of the program are not yet documented or translated into different languages.

New in Audacity 1.3.6

Major new capabilities

* FFmpeg support (downloadable separately) permits import and export of a much wider range of file formats, including WMA, M4A and AC3, plus import of audio from video files
* On-demand loading of uncompressed files eliminates the wait before files can be played or edited
* Linked audio and label tracks allow labels to move with their corresponding audio when cutting, pasting or changing speed or tempo

Other features

* Hierarchical plug-in grouping for built-in plug-ins
* Sound activated recording
* Ability to save smaller, compressed project files
* MIDI files can now be imported, cut-and-paste edited, then exported

Miscellaneous

* Transport menu for easy access to frequently used recording/playback commands and preferences
* Default View Mode Preference to choose Waveform, Spectrum or Pitch view
* Several bug fixes

New in Audacity 1.3.5

Recording / Playback

* Several bugs fixed so that latency correction should be better, and more devices work correctly.
* Problems with invalid sample rates under Linux should be much rarer.
* Newer version of Portaudio library.
* New feature to record onto the end of an existing track (hold Shift while clicking Record).

Import / Export

* Updated versions of Libogg, Libvorbis, Libflac, Libsndfile and Twolame libraries.
* Handling of unsupported file formats more informative.
* Handling of file names with slashes on OS X improved.
* New dialog allows replacement of illegal file name characters on all platforms.

Interface

* Improved scaling and layout for rulers and VU meters.
* Envelope fixes/improvements including full control of undo/redo.
* New keyboard shortcuts and improved menu navigation.
* Preferences:
o More intuitive tab arrangement.
o New options for mute/solo and Metadata Editor behavior.
o Language can now be changed without restart.
* Expanded Build Information tab.

Effects

* New Vocal Remover plug-in, improvements for Generate effects.

Compilation

* Fixes when building Audacity with libraries disabled.
* Improvements to make Mac and Solaris builds easier.

Security

* Full fix for issue CVE-2007-6061 on systems where temporary directories can be changed by other users (thanks to Michael Schwendt).

Miscellaneous

* Updated translations for many locales.
* Several stability improvements.

New in Audacity 1.3.4

New features
New Welcome Screen with introduction to Audacity.
Enhanced Windows Shell integration, so Audacity shows up in lots of Windows places such as "Open With".
New keyboard command: 'Mix and Render to New Track' (bound to Ctrl+Shift+M).
New keyboard shortcut: "Shift-A" starts playback when stopped, or performs "Stop and Select" when playing.
Added support for VAMP audio analysis plug-ins.
Solo button solos only one track at a time, and a track cannot be both mute and solo.
Interface
Keyboard shortcuts for making short/long jumps along the timeline.
Added 'Snap To' in the Selection Bar.
Made keyboard navigation easier when multiple menu items with the same first letter exist.
Enhanced interface for label editing.
Layout of OK/Cancel buttons consistency improved.
Preferences:

* "Select all audio in project, if none selected" (on by default).
* "Beep on completion of longer activities" (system bell, not main output).
* Other preferences cleaned up and explanations improved.

Envelopes: Many fixes when copying / pasting / repeating.
Many translation updates.
Track height fixed in several cases.
CleanSpeech mode switching without closing and re-opening fixed.
Opening/Saving Formats
Metadata editor added for OGG, FLAC and WAV/AIFF exports, and general improvements.
Metadata import improved.
Muted tracks are no longer audible in the exported mix.
Effects
Truncate Silence: support for multiple and stereo tracks.
Dtmf Generator:

* Added support for keypad letters.
* Added an amplitude control.

Compressor: variable decay time added.
Equalization:

* Clicks at start / end prevented.
* Improvements to saved curves being found.
* Preview works correctly.

'Merge' command appears in Undo history.
Clipping detected more reliably.
Nyquist plug-ins reviewed and enhanced.
Better (and more) progress bars.
Cancelling effect always restores previous audio.
Several improvement to effects in batch mode.
Recording/Playback
Improvements to latency correction.
Updated version of portaudio-v19 library.
Note that Help is no longer built in, but accessible on the Web via links in Audacity.

New features in Audacity 1.3.3

Opening/saving formats
Import

* Import of audio from QuickTime (mov, aac, m4a) files now supported on OS X.
* Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) wave files can now be imported.

Export

* Metadata can be added to OGG files.
* Improved Export option selection.
* Additional export options added to MP3 and FLAC file formats.
* Command line exporter now supported on Windows and OS X.

Effects
EQ effect

* Responsiveness improved.
* Several enhancements added.
* Batch support added.

New Auto Duck effect
Added previewing to AudioUnit effects.
Much improved Noise Removal effect
Effects previewing can now be canceled.
New DTMF Tone Generator effect
Additional options available in Noise effect.
Improved the Tone Generation effects.
Other features
New built-in screen capture utility
Major speed improvement in Spectrogram rendering
Increased support for drag and drop on OS X.
Support added for building against wxWidgets 2.8.x.
Can now open multiple Audacity Projects at once from Explorer on Windows.
Improved main window sliders.
New support for snapping while selecting and sliding
Improved track focus handling and visual feedback.
Speed improvements and handling of resizing/zooming in tracks
Spectrum view can now be zoomed.
New internal file cache to improve handling of project files over networks
Also
Many improvements to language specific translations
Numerous stability improvements

New features in Audacity 1.3.1 and 1.3.2

1. Improved Toolbar Docking
2. Track focus for improved keyboard navigation
3. Repair and Equalization effects
4. Timer Recording
5. Project saving and recovery
6. Selection Bar
7. Mac OS X features

New features in Audacity 1.3.0

1. Collapse/Expand Tracks
2. Multiple clips per track
3. Improved Label Tracks
4. Other features

http://audacityteam.org/download/features-1.3-a

Over and above Feature Creep, 1.3 keeps its preferences in a preference file rather than try to wrestle with the Dreaded Windows Registry. In English that means if you have a damaged Audacity 1.2 program on a Windows machine, it's almost impossible for normal humans to fix it. In 1.3, you drag the preference file to the trash and start over.

I suspect part of the name "Unstable" came from the programmers natural insistence that the odd numbered programs are the unstable test versions, and the even numbers are the release candidates. The UNIX/Linux world works like that.

"Beta" software is another slippery label. Of late, the only thing Beta software does is provide a reason why you can't complain about it. There are real, current software projects that will probably never make it out of beta because there's nobody at the developer's office to answer the phone. One of my computers is running pre-release Alpha software for a particular application and those people just laugh at you when you write a question.

Audacity 1.2 was written when computers still ran on coal and paraffin oil, so it's a little dated, although still functional.

As has been pointed out above, there are any number of much better and more stable tools in 1.3 than there are in 1.2. The audio noise reduction tools in 1.3 give you sliders for several characteristics that may be important to you. In 1.2, the controls are Do You Want Noise Reduction [ Y / N ].

You are clear that you can install both 1.2 and 1.3 on your machine? You can't use them both at once, but you can install both without a mushroom cloud.

Koz