Release candidate 9.0.0-rc1 has been tagged-But what does this mean for users?

Software
1

I’ve just noticed that release candidate 9.0.0-rc1 has been tagged in the Source code mirror. What does this mean from a user’s perspective, and should we get excited yet?

2

There will be an announcement once installable packages are widely available.

3 Likes
3

Don’t expect RC1 to jump straight to release, the bug fixes have been a steady stream. RC1 means time for more eyes to look for and report bugs.

4

The release plan hasn’t changed – end of Jan / early Feb 2025.

5 Likes
5

One key change is that in Windows OS, RC1 installs as V9.0, not V8.99 and this leads to a new icon and directory tree in Documents/KiCad.
We have about a month to test non-critical projects in RCs and catch those bugs before release.

6

Some tips for this on Windows:

  1. Start off with the full build, not Lite - you need those libraries in the new directories.
  2. Make sure the libraries are checked in the installer dialog
  3. Copy your test project(s) to documents/KiCad/V9.0/projects
  4. Open a project from the new directory to avoid messing older version projects

I missed (2) and had all kinds of strange warnings and a hang

7

I would like to do some testing and maybe help in reporting bugs, If I stumble across some.

However, I do not want to break my “produtive” 8.0.7 Kicad. Is it “safe” to use the installable nightly packages such as the current one in
(https://downloads.kicad.org/kicad/windows/explore/nightlies/download/kicad-nightly-9.0.0.rc1.18.gc587788430-x86_64.exe) in the sense of “does not share settings” with existing Kicad installations?
Thanks!

8

The rc1 release announcement hasn’t been made yet, but it should create a new settings directory separate from your v8 settings.

In terms of using it, please make a backup of your project files so if there are any critical bugs you don’t lose your work.

9

It does not share settings, but any designs or personal libraries that you edit in V9 will no longer open in 8.0.7

10

On Windows, I have 6,7,8 and 9RC installed in parallel and independent of each others settings.
Always copy your job from olderversion/projects to newversion/projects and open in the new directory to avoid converting the old job.