Three versions of Open Rails are readily available to users, as shown below:
For first-time users, we recommend the Stable Version which comes with an installer.
Whichever version you choose, Open Rails has a mechanism to notify you of new versions and to update Open Rails for you. You will find the settings for this mechanism in Menu > Options > Update
Open Rails will check for updates at most once a day. If an update is found, then you can install the update just by clicking on the link in the top, right corner:
If you follow the Open Rails project on the forums, then you will hear about bug-fixes and new features. These are included in the Unstable Version for developers and testers to try out. Once they have been checked and approved, they are published (on Friday) as the latest Testing Version. Any user can easily update to the current weekly Testing Version and benefit from these improvements.
For reference all the Testing Versions (executable and source) can be found in our archive.
T1.5.1-1284-gca636331f
Merge pull request #983 from sweiland-openrails/SwitchPanelDpu202316e8
bugfix: The DPU window opened from the WEB based Switch Panel enhancement does not cycle between it's variantsT1.5.1-1282-g336a70013
Merge pull request #799 from twpol/feature/one-true-winddfc715e5
feat: Make precipitation response to camera movement6a55f3ba
fix: Correct cloud movements against camera1a70945a
fix: Move daylight offset entirely into Viewer0daa2d48
Merge branch 'master' into feature/one-true-winddc038507
feat: Make precipitation respond to instantaneous wind speed and direction3bce3955
feat: Remove precipitation customisationeb92d81e
style: Format precipitation code99f50877
feat: Make particles respond to instantaneous wind speed and direction920870a9
feat: Make clouds respond to average wind speed and direction39e75c4a
feat: Define average and instantaneous wind speed and direction with updates39abd77e
style: Format physics wind code1e6d6767
refactor: Clean up HUD wind resistance information097b97c6
refactor: Improved field names and removed unused field546b4c8d
refactor: Fix spellingaadcd83b
style: Format weather simulation and viewer codeT1.5.1-1266-g14405bf42
Merge pull request #962 from cesarBLG/pantograph-fix46d0472f
Fix pantographs on unpowered carsT1.5.1-1264-g041e55a65
Merge pull request #885 from cjakeman/add-menu-notifications45ca50d5
Adds adjustment for display scaling != 100%7490f2c2
Resolves review points8f473cef
Merge branch 'master' into add-menu-notifications816b7bc2
Merge branch 'master' into add-menu-notificationsd98ac26a
Merge branch 'master' into add-menu-notificationsefef86cd
Merge branch 'add-menu-notifications' of https://github.com/cjakeman/openrails into add-menu-notifications0917bdc7
switches to use real data source65ac2698
adjusted to suit System > Display > Scale = 125% as well as 100%54174f77
uses Panel in place of Page.Panelf1bca8b9
some re-factoring318043ad
adds PageTracking. Corrects Retry067662ef
adds NotificationPageAlert()a9b02aca
adds sort by date and include only notifications that pass checks9c6c13f2
adds Arrow class03ecdd98
refactor AddArrow6426c6f9
add next & previous controlse267870a
After tidying6cf52723
Handles all test cases in Notifications.docx20514b03
Handles minimal notification2728d6da
Merge branch 'master' into add-menu-notifications56c17fb0
restores chat_icon to Menu\MainForm.resx885a176a
Merge branch 'logic-processing' into add-menu-notificationsc6e02ed0
merge master into branchd83e8101
adds CheckNotContains()c153b9d8
refines CheckConstraints to ignore empty constraints0a956f54
Adds IncludesAllOf() and ExcludesAnyOf().96eff087
Refactoring, respects userSettings, adds read from file for testing menu.jsonfb6b8120
Fix for bug in CheckExcludes() and CheckIncludes()42092cbf
Change "New Version" to "Latest Version".03d4a525
Change New Version to report "already updated" when up to datedcd4f7de
Change New Version to report "none" when up to date1465b28e
Change New Version to report "none" when up to date68029a67
fix for IndexOf bug753cba5d
adds Operating System as a possible check.d714b11e
removes redundant labels for What's New and Update Check Failed0f6de51b
handles fetch errors for Update and Notifications55dfb283
adds notificationManagereec888a8
takes JSON from remote URL4067ed2e
Refine ReplaceParameters() to support parameters embedded in textaeef5b23
add IncludesAnyOf constraintc311e43a
add ExcludesAllOf constraint59d70763
Merge branch 'master' into add-menu-notifications90acfdf3
to clear working space79ddb23c
Merge branch 'master' into add-menu-notifications4b4dbee6
adds JSON readerec2350eb
Merge branch 'master' into add-menu-notifications8f943336
Tidy codeb8fe0ce1
Replaces Update links with a single Notification - unfinished06b8a9e1
Adds Notification class with NDetail elements shown in the panelf70d0aa5
Merge branch 'master' into add-menu-notificationsd9ce84bb
Adds icon to count new notifications74466d96
fix: Menu update label positioned staticallyc81447bd
Adds Notifications icon and toggle behaviourThe current Testing Version can also be downloaded as a Zip archive:
27 September 2024, 108MB
The documents included in the Testing Versions downloads can be found on-line at:
Note: Multiple versions of Open Rails will not interfere if they are saved to different folders.
To support development, the latest unstable version is also available, which is updated whenever a developer publishes a change. The unstable versions are more likely to contain serious bugs and are only recommended for users wishing to help with Open Rails development.
The Manual for the Unstable version is not included in the download, but is available on-line.
For reference all the Unstable Versions (executable and source) can be found in our Unstable archive.
Improvements to Open Rails are drawn from several public sources as shown here:
We try to make sure that these changes all work and fit together by reviews as marked in orange in the diagram.