GoldenCheetah/doc/user/GC3-Release.texinfo

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@settitle Golden Cheetah v3.0 Release Notes
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@title Golden Cheetah v3.0 Release Notes
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@author Mark Liversedge

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These release notes are for GoldenCheetah, version 3.0.
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@menu
* WHATS NEW::  What's new in V3.0
* CONTRIBUTORS::  List of Contributors to V3.0
@end menu

@node WHATS NEW,CONTRIBUTORS,CONTRIBUTORS,Top
@chapter Whats New

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.

@section 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.


@node CONTRIBUTORS,WHATS NEW,WHATS NEW,Top
@chapter Contributors

@section 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.

@bye