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title
*****

These release notes are for GoldenCheetah, version 3.0.

* Menu:

* WHATS NEW::  What's new in V3.0
* CONTRIBUTORS::  List of Contributors to V3.0


File: GC3-Release.info,  Node: WHATS NEW,  Next: CONTRIBUTORS,  Prev: CONTRIBUTORS,  Up: Top

1 Whats New
***********

1.1 500+ bug fixes and minor enhancements
=========================================

Over the last 3 years the performance and stability of GoldenCheetah
has been improved considerably. One of the major criticisms of the
software was it crashing.

We have fixed 46 serious issues and over 400 bugs in over 1,500
different commits. GoldenCheetah is now over 120,000 lines of code
compared to 61,000 of the previous v2.1 release. It is used by 1000s of
users around the world, from Santiago to Singapore and Auckland to
Aberdeen.

In addition to addressing stability issues we have also looked closely
at performance. Whilst the new metric functionality and database means
that a modern PC is recommended, the code is still efficient enough to
run on a netbook.

We have introduced pre-computed metrics alongside a cache of ride bests
across all the main data series to ensure that analysis of long term
data is as quick and responsive as possible. We also introduced our own
file format using JSON as an open file format, with a custom parser. We
can now read a 1hr ride 20x faster using our native format than using
an equivalent and very popular XML format.

In short, we've squashed the big bugs and made it run much faster.

1.2 Redesigned UI and UX
========================

One of the most immediate changes you will notice with v3.0 are the
major changes to the user experience and user interface. From the
initial help screens for new users through to the redesigned preferences
pane for advanced users, it provides a  more complete user experience
with a slicker and more professional user interface.

We wanted an elegant and clean user interface that was intuitive to use
and revealed complexity when it was required. We think we've come
pretty close.

There are 4 views available with specific and detailed sidebars for
peformancee tracking (home), short term tracking (diary) as well as the
well known analysis and training views from earlier releases.

We now allow you to view charts tabbed and tiled, you can resize and
move charts around and customise them using roll-over controls. The
activity list is fully configurable and can be configured to show any
number of columns. We have overhauled and introduced friendly wizards
for adding devices and athletes through to manual activity entry.

The UI is largely native on a Mac and the same UI and UX has been
replicated on Linux and Windows. We also support full screen including
Lion fullscreen support on a Mac.

We have been through many, many iterations to get to this UX and it has
been widely tested and critiqued by a large community of GC users.

We think this is the best looking and most intuitive version of
GoldenCheetah ever released.

1.3 Support for the latest bike computers
=========================================

We have added direct download support for the Cyclops Joule and Joule
GPS as well as the latest SRM Powercontrol 6 and 7. We also added
support for the O-sync Macro and Macro X.

In addition to this we also fixed a few issues related to importing from
newer Garmin devices since the file format changed.

1.4 Support for more telemetry
==============================

Alongside the support for the latest bike computers we also added the
ability to track and plot new data series, including; Headwind, LR
Balance, Temperature and Slope.

1.5 Export and Batch Export as well as lots of new file formats
===============================================================

We will now export and batch export your data to a wide variety of file
formats. We believe it is your data and it should not be locked into any
sotfware. We support open formats such as TCX, PWX, JSON and XML as well
as FITLOG and GPX.

We have also added support for reading files from SportTracks, GPX, Tacx
CAF and the SLF/SMF file formats. We have also added legacy WKO+ file
format support (CP 1.0 and 1.1) as well as import of Wattbike TXT
exports.

1.6 Support for a wide selection of Cloud services
==================================================

We can now upload and download data from cloud services offered by;
Withings, Zeo, Strava, TrainingPeaks, Training Stage Buch, RideWithGPS
as well as Internet based calendars (calDAV) such as Google Calendar.

1.7 Improvements to Aerolab
===========================

There is now an autosolver for CdA and Crr Estimation in Aerolab that
removes a lot of the guesswork from curve fitting in Virtual Elevation
as well as a handy Air Density (Rho) estimator.

1.8 Realtime training significantly enhanced
============================================

We now support Native ANT+ removing the need for quarqd. Video Playback
is built in using VLC/QTKit. We manage a media library to make sure you
can re-use any content you may have from Tacx Ergvideos through
Sufferfest.

We support Virtual Power for popular devices from KK, LeMond and many
other trainers.  We have added support for the amazing new Wahoo
Fitness Kickr trainer as well as the old Tacx Fortius.

In the train view we have added lots of new ways to ride on the trainer
including; Streetview, SpinScan (on Computrainer) and an enhanced
Workout Plot that plots telemetry against the workout as you ride.

Finally we've added Computrainer calibration, a workout wizard and
download from ErgDB as well as Multi-device Support allowing you to
ride with with your ANT+ powermeter on your Computrainer, Kickr or
Fortius.

1.9 Advanced search and data filtering
======================================

We now offer the ability to use free text search across all activities,
enabling lightning quick searches for past activities.  We use a well
proven and fast search and indexing tool called CLucene to provide
search as you type functionality.

Additionally we have introduced a data filter (using the same search
box) to allow you to filter activities for specific properties, for
example for all rides with a TSS > 300 or perhaps those with an IF >0.9
and a duration of > 1hr.

Both the search and filter functions can be applied to the charts -
which means that you can plot a PMC only where sport is "Bike" or
perhaps power distribution but only where the workout code is FTPTEST.

We are still discovering how powerful these tools are when applied to
long term performance tracking.

1.10 Lots of new charts
=======================

It wouldn't be a new release of GoldenCheeth if we didn't introduce
some new charts for detailed forensic data analysis.

We've added a new HR to Power analysis as well as a more utilitarian 2d
scatter plot. We've added Bing as map provider for the Map chart.

But the single most asked for feature, and one that has been on the GC
wish list since it was first released is the ability to plot a
distribution for a date range.  We can now do that - allowing you to
plot power distribution for a season or month or any number of
sophisticated date ranges (we also added lots of advance ways to
express date ranges).

In addition to plotting distribution charts for ride data you can also
now plot distribution charts for activity metrics. So, for example, you
can plot a distribution of ride intensity factors to see intensity mix
for a season or date range. Additionally, you can choose to plot that
as say ride time, i.e. how much time have I spent over the last season
at different intensities. Or perhaps you would like to plot TSS that has
been accumulated over the season by intensity of ride. You can do that
in version 3.

Lastly, we have also extended the CP curve to plot more than just
power. It will now plot a mean max curve for HR, Power, Speed, Cadence,
xPower, NP et al. And we even added VAM too, for you mountain goats.

1.11 New metrics, including TrainingPeaks' TSS and NP
=====================================================

Yes, we've been granted permission by our friends at TrainingPeaks to
use their cylcing metrics in the latest version of GoldenCheetah. We
know that it is one of the most popular additions.

Not only have we added them as metrics to plot and track, we've also
added them to the realtime training so you can target an intensity of
stress for a workout and monitor and adjust the intensity of the
workout as you ride.

We have also added a whole host of new metrics, there are now over 100
different metrics and measures you can work with including things like;
Pace, Maximums, Gradient, VAM, wpk, time in HR Zones and many, many
more.

1.12 Build and Platform support
===============================

For the technical amongst you we have removed mandatory Boost
Dependency, which means you can build GC with nothing more than QT4.8
installed (we will support QT5 in v3.1).  We now support OpenBSD and
have moved to using version 6.1 of the QWT library.

On a related note, you can see all the versions used, contributors
involved and build settigs as we have improved the about box to give
much more useful information to developers.

1.13 We wrote some documentation!
=================================

Shock. We now have an FAQ covering over 50 of the most commonly asked
questions about GoldenCheetah. And a full user manual to compliment the
existing wiki for user generated content.

One of the other criticisms we often heard about GoldenCheetah was how
hard it was to use, and how you needed to be a cycling nerd to
understand it. We feel that the new UI and User Experience coupled with
much better documentation and help mean this should make this version
of GoldenCheetah the easiest to use yet.


File: GC3-Release.info,  Node: CONTRIBUTORS,  Next: WHATS NEW,  Prev: WHATS NEW,  Up: Top

2 Contributors
**************

2.1 Credits and Contributors
============================

Literally thousands of people regularly download, install, develop,
critique and discuss GoldenCheetah and its features and functions.

Back in 2006 a stupendously gifted guy (and Cat 1 racer) called Sean
Rhea bought a Powertap. Frustrated with the software that was available
he set about writing some utilities to plot the data. But first he had
to reverse engineer the protocol to talk to it.  Back then, and to a
lesser degree now, these sports and cycling products are closed. You buy
their product and you're stuck with their software. Sean did something
amazing - he open sourced his code. By doing that he changed power
analysis completely.

Here in 2013 with ANT+, BTLE, Wahoo, TrainerRoad, PerfPro and of course
GoldenCheetah things look very different. The cycling world has gone
open. Sean can take some of the credit for that.

We stand on his shoulders.

Here in 2013 by far and away the biggest contributors to this project
are Damien Grauser and Mark Liversedge.  Between the two of them they
have committed almost 90% of all code to GoldenCheetah in the last 3
years. Often working on stuff for others they are the reason this
release is written for you the cyclist .. and not us the developers.

Of equal importance is Gareth Coco our devops guru. With unfathomable
patience he has built countless release candidates and development
builds for the last 3 years. He has worked with an ever changing and
hideous array of wacky dependencies across Windows, Mac and Linux. He
is pretty much the only reason you can download and install our
software. Big, big thanks to Gareth.

Thats not to say that there aren't many other significant contributions
too; Ale Martinez has masterminded and developed multi-language support
in V3. Translations have been undertaken by Ale himself, but also by
Til Schmiedeberg, Keisuke Yamaguchi, Marco Piccirilli, Sergei
Chekhovskii and Rafael Oliveira Ribeiro. And a huge thanks to Satoru
Kurashiki who has worked tirelessly to get a Debian (and hence Ubuntu)
package created for GoldenCheetah since v2.1.

A large number of developers have contributed small and large bits of
code, and many clever coaches and athletes have donated their ideas and
best practices. I must shout out to Dr Andrea Morelli the professional
coach, for his encouragement and insight over the last 3 years and Greg
Steele for some of the most interesting and inspriring thoughts.

Here are all the contributors, all of them have made this version of
GoldenCheetah the best yet;

Alejandro Martinez, Andrew Bryson, Andy Froncioni, Austin Roach, Berend
De Schouwer, Bruno Assis, Chris Cleeland, Claus Assmann, Dag Gruneau,
Damien Grauser, Darren Hague, Dean Junk, Eric Brandt, Eric Murray,
Frank Zschockelt, Gareth Coco, Greg Lonnon, Ilja Booij, Jaime Jofre,
Jamie Kimberley, Jim Ley, John Ehrlinger, Josef Gebel, Julian
Baumgartner, Julian Simioni, Justin Knotzke, Keisuke Yamaguchi, Ken
Sallot, Luke NRG, Magnus Gille, Marc Boudreau, Mark Liversedge, Mark
Rages, Mitsukuni Sato, Ned Harding, Patrick McNerthney, Rainer Clasen,
Robb Romans, Robert Carlsen, Roberto Massa, Ron Alford, Sean Rhea,
Steven Gribble, Thomas Weichmann, Walter Burki.

Finally a big shout out to three amazing people; Jamie Kimberley who
has been the glue that held the GoldenCheetah community together,
Robert Carlsen who has always been the cool guy in the glasses that
does the cool stuff. And last but not least, my friend Justin Knotzke
who demands and gets the best from all of us.

Jamie, Robert and Justin have stepped away from regular involvement in
GoldenCheetah, but their contributions have set the standard and will
not be forgotten. Cheers Guys.



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