Three versions of Open Rails are readily available to users, as shown below:
For first-time users, we recommend the Stable Version which comes with an installer.
Whichever version you choose, Open Rails has a mechanism to notify you of new versions and to update Open Rails for you. You will find the settings for this mechanism in Menu > Options > Update
Open Rails will check for updates at most once a day. If an update is found, then you can install the update just by clicking on the link in the top, right corner:
If you follow the Open Rails project on the forums, then you will hear about bug-fixes and new features. These are included in the Unstable Version for developers and testers to try out. Once they have been checked and approved, they are published (on Friday) as the latest Testing Version. Any user can easily update to the current weekly Testing Version and benefit from these improvements.
T1.5.1-271-g58e67675d
Merge pull request #773 from Roeterdink/WatchdogPingTrainProcessing4543e4b5
Add watchdog ping to Train ProcessingT1.5.1-269-g01607fd93
Merge pull request #766 from peternewell/control_car_gear_controllerf1759ded
Add documentationc9657def
Add warning message for type C gearboxes3d5d238b
Correct issues with gear controls not being passed to other locomotivesf143fcc0
Correct gear operation from Control Car6d522992
Add ability to control vacuum brakes and gears to Control CarThe current Testing Version can also be downloaded as a Zip archive:
03 February 2023, 91MB
Note: Multiple versions of Open Rails will not interfere if they are saved to different folders.
To support development, the latest unstable version is also available. This is updated whenever developers submit a change for consideration. This and previous unstable versions are available as a change log and individual downloads. The unstable versions are more likely to contain serious bugs and are only recommended for users wishing to help with Open Rails development.
Improvements to Open Rails are drawn from several public sources as shown here:
We try to make sure that these changes all work and fit together by reviews as marked in orange in the diagram.