In the previous snapshot we dropped a hint about a change not listed in the included changelog, a “small update”. In today’s snapshot, we publicly test our new “delta” based update system for Windows. If you are upgrading from the last snapshot (1.5.626.8), only the changes between the two builds will be downloaded. If you upgrade from any other build, the full installation will be downloaded.
Delta updates
Delta updates are a mechanism for allowing less data to be downloaded when upgrading to a new build. How small? Well, a typical set of changes between two snapshots, one week apart, is so small that the update file would fit on a floppy disk! In fact for this update, (since there are very little changes) the update for Windows 32bit is even smaller than the above picture of a floppy disk!
Delta updates benefit everyone. We save on bandwidth costs and you get a faster and often more reliable, download. It can also be cheaper for you, if you are paying for your data allowance.
Mac and Linux
We plan to bring delta updates to all of our supported platforms but the methods of doing so are different. Therefore we have decided to do it in steps. We went for Windows first as it was relatively easy and would impact the most users but the ultimate goal is to try and get the benefits of delta updates to all of you.
Download (1.5.627.3)
For today’s snapshot we decided against providing direct download links, since the whole point of this snapshot is to test that the new update mechanism actually works.
Note: If you really want the full installers for some reason, I bet you could guess the URLs!
Changelog
- Minor translation updates to Slovakian and Chinese
