Feeling nostalgic after the 0.8 release, I recompiled a couple of archived versions of KStars to recall the good old days, and see how far we've come.
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| KStars 0.1: the initial release (05 Apr 2001). No planets, sun, or moon. No horizon. No customizable options of any kind. No right-click menu. Just 9000 stars, and the Messier objects shown as yellow squares. |
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| KStars 0.3: the foundation is in place (29 Apr 2001). The only obvious visual improvement is the addition of constellation lines and labels, but this version shipped with most of the important stuff in place: right-click popup menu (including internet image downloads), click-and-drag the map, and customizable view options. Still no planets, though. |
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| KStars 0.5: the planets arrive (19 Aug 2001). Heiko and Thomas have joined up by now, so things are really starting to come together. We've got planets, the horizon, NGC/IC objects, and 40,000 stars. |
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| KStars 0.8: That brings us to today (12 Dec 2001). With the Milky Way, coordinate grid lines, a toolbar, and realistic star colors, KStars is well on its way to becoming a full-featured planetarium. Lots more to come...stay tuned! |