V1.1.1 Release notes

14th February 2013

The Z88 Development Team has issued a minor bugfix-release, OZvm V1.1.1. Links have been updated below to point at V1.1.1 release. Fonts were missing in V1.1 installers for Windows and Linux, and there was found a regression in the Blink emulation that caused keyboard lock-up after timeout in the Z88 virtual machine, see issue here.


1st February 2013

The Z88 Development Team is proud to release OZvm V1.1. This is our third public release since this application was developed quite some years ago. This is to date the most stable and feature-complete emulator of the Cambridge Z88. This is also the final release as a Java application. All future work will be a re-implementation using the Qt (C++) framework, which promises more platform targets running on Intel and Arm architectures. We anticipate to be able to run on Android and iOS as well. Ideas in the making...

We wanted to give our users the most easy and convenient way of running the emulator, with minimal effort. For Windows and Linux we have obtained a minimalist license of the Excelsior JET toolchain, which has enabled us to produce native executable binaries on those desktop platforms - executing the Cambridge Z88 emulation very smooth and fast. For Mac OS X we have provided a ready-made application, OZvm having Mac look n' feel, even though it is still a Java JAR running behind the scenes (using the Java runtime installed on Mac OS X).


Platform
Version
Size
Added
Installation notes
Download Link
OZvm V1.1.1 - Windows-installer.exe29.4MB2013/02/14

Download EXE installer to desktop, double-click to start installation. Supported to run on Windows XP SP2+, Vista, 7 & 8. The executable binaries are 32bit for Intel architecture. Out-of-the-box execution, requires no Java Runtime.

OZvm V1.1.1 - Linux-installer.run31.5MB2013/02/14Download RUN installer to Gnome / KDE (or other X-Windows based) desktop, apply chmod +x, then execute from command line or desktop file browser. Supported to install and run on DEB package distributions like Debian & Ubuntu, RPM package distributions like Fedora, Mandriva, OpenSuse and PcLinuxOS. The executables are designed for 32bit Intel architectures, but may be installed on 64bit as well. Out-of-the-box execution, requires no Java Runtime.
OZvm V1.1.1 - MAC OS X App.zip1.9MB2013/02/14Download Zip, unpack and drag to Application folder. Supported to run on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and newer. Requires Java runtime to be installed on your Mac system. Implemented with Mac look and feel user interface guidelines.
OZvm - V1.1.1 Java Jar + Z88 Roms.zip1.6MB2013/02/15For all platforms with OpenJDK / Oracle Java 1.6+ runtime installed on your system: Download Zip, unpack into preferred folder on your desktop system. Type "java -jar z88.jar" to execute application.

OZvm Project Resources

Work done in this release

The overall purpose of this release has been to improve the user interface and improve emulation. Emulation is still not perfect (sound emulation is missing and Blink hardware emulation still has minor areas to be improved). Here's the main items worth mentioning - the details can be read by clicking on the issue details below.

  • Install and run any released ROM from Cambridge Computer (UK and foreign versions) from menu.
    All ROM's (except Icelandic) as they were released by Cambridge Computer throughout 1987 - 1990, are now bundled with the emulator, easily selectable from dropdown menu.

  • Double screen size
    On desktops with high resolution, a 640x64 pixel screen of the Cambridge Z88 becomes quite small, so allow to magnify the Z88 screen as double size and experience the pixels details..

  • Mac OS X support
    Previous releases were not working very well on Mac OS X. Graphical user interface has been optimized so single-button mouse on Mac can use to the Slots (to insert/remove cards). Mac application look and feel also done. Colours optimized to look well on Mac.

  • Improved Z80 CPU hardware emulation
    RST 38H & RST 66H couldn't be marked with breakpoints. Interrupt blocking (IFF1 high) were not correctly implemented. Manipulate I and R registers from debug command line. NMI were not implemented properly. Stabilized 4Mb memory segmentation implementation (protect against Array out-of-bounds exceptions).

  • Improved Blink emulation
    COM.RESTIM implemented. Don't emit KEY interrupt when key is released. Improved hard/soft reset emulation. F5 key or stop command now works when emulated Z88 is in COMA state.

  • User guide and debug command line help migrated to wiki
    For more flexible maintainance, all previous help and debug command line reference has been moved to wiki pages. Access help from user interface will open a browser and load appropriate page on the wiki.

  • Execute debug command scripts when a breakpoint is encountered
    Useful utility for integrating Z88 application compilation builds with the host desktop.
     
  • New breakpoint architecture
    Breakpoints now live outside the memory model which allows them to be active even though memory is reloaded with other contents. 

 

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