RELEASE-NOTES-4.2

 ┌──────────────────────────────┐
 │ Release notes for i3 v4.2    │
 └──────────────────────────────┘

This is the second release of the new major version of i3, v4.2. It is
considered stable. All users of i3 are strongly encouraged to upgrade.

A big change with this release is (again) a new parser for commands. You might
get the impression that we like rewriting parsers, but check the commit message
of commit a532f5a for rationale on this decision.

A more visible change to users is the introduction of a scratchpad command:
This is useful to have a permanent editor session ready whenever you need it.
Or your music player. Or email client? Or $programming-language REPL? Give it a
try!

Also, you are finally able to move workspaces between the different outputs if
you are using multiple monitors. You can rename workspaces on the fly and
identify named workspaces by their number. So you can rename "1: www" to "1:
code" with one simple rename command and all your keybindings will still work.

A subtle indicator of the split state of containers has been introduced: In
case you are in a split container with precisely one window (a situation which
you could not recognize by looking at your screen previously), i3 will
highlight the bottom/right border of the split container in a lighter blue.
This should reduce confusion about whether you are dealing with a split
container or not.

And finally, i3bar now supports a JSON input protocol, so that with a
subsequent release of i3status, you will be able to use colors in your bar!

 ┌────────────────────────────┐
 │ Changes in v4.2            │
 └────────────────────────────┘

  • i3-sensible-*: don’t call which without parameters
  • i3-config-wizard: Mark the currently selected modifier with an arrow
  • i3bar: kick tray clients after output configuration changed
  • i3bar: kill child processes when exit()ing (they might be stopped)
  • i3bar now supports a JSON input format to provide colors and more (later)
  • Support different modifier keys for showing i3bar in hide mode
  • bar config: add i3bar_command for non-standard setups
  • Implement scratchpad functionality
  • Implement 'focus output left|right|up|down'
  • Implement 'workspace next_on_output|prev_on_output'
  • Implement 'move workspace to output <output>'
  • Implement a new parser for commands
  • Implement 'workspace number <number>' to switch to named workspaces
  • Implement 'move [container|window] to workspace number <number>'
  • Implement 'rename workspace <old_name> to <new_name>'
  • Re-implement borders in the workspace bar
  • Draw a separator line after each tab in tabbed mode
  • Ignore aspect ratio during fullscreen mode (fixes MPlayer subtitles)
  • Correctly restore focus after in-place restarts
  • Highlight the right/bottom border of split windows ("indicator")
  • Install /usr/share/applications/i3.desktop so that you can select i3 as a
    window manager in GNOME
  • Don’t migrate unfocused empty workspaces when disabling an output
  • randr: Skip workspaces which are assigned to a different output when
    creating a new workspace
  • Implement an urgency flag criterion
  • Render only once for all matching assignments
  • Implement support for user configuration of constraints on floating window
    dimensions
  • Extend move command for floating windows
  • Added option to select primary display on tray_output
  • Implement resize <grow|shrink> <width|height>, use it in the default config
  • Replace the old fullscreen container when requesting fullscreen
  • Prevent changing focus outside a container when scrolling on the
    decorations
  • Only resize when the left/right mouse button is used, not when scrolling
  • docs: replace the refcard with an HTML version
  • cfgparse: accept force-xinerama as a synonym of force_xinerama
  • Implement support for 32 bit visuals (necessary for transparency)
  • X11: only copy the requested region from buffer pixmaps in ExposeEvents

 ┌────────────────────────────┐
 │ Bugfixes                   │
 └────────────────────────────┘

  • Bugfix: Don’t leak IPC file descriptors
  • Bugfix: fix empty tray icon areas in i3bar
  • Bugfix: properly handle workspace names with double quotes

 ┌────────────────────────────┐
 │ Thanks!                    │
 └────────────────────────────┘

Thanks for testing, bugfixes, discussions and everything I forgot go out to:

  Aaron Small, ablepharus, aksr, alexander, badboy, B-con, beauby, ben, biiter,
  binzter, cg, cradle, darkraven, dbp, dcoppa, Don, dothebart, D Thompson,
  eeemsi, f8l, Fandekasp, fernandotcl, gamo, garga, gregkh, Han, helgikrs,
  Jeremy O'Brien, jjfoerch, joepd, Jose Pereira, Jure Ziberna, MasterofJOKers,
  Merovius, mhcerri, migueldvb, moemoe, mseed, mxf, nh2, noxxun, Paul, Pavel
  Löbl, Peter Bui, Phlogistique, phnom, piroko, rami, SardemFF7, xeen, xpt,
  zeus

-- Michael Stapelberg, 2012-04-25