freenx-server/nxviewer-passwd/WhatsNew.TIGHTVNC.original
2025-08-08 20:28:57 +02:00

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+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| This is a brief summary of changes introduced in each TightVNC |
| release. For more details, please see ChangeLog files included |
| in TightVNC source and binary archives. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
* TightVNC 1.2.9
- Win32 version: Major security-related bug in the server has been
fixed -- handling of the "QueryAllowNoPass" option was seriously
broken. Together with fixing this bug, the whole authentication
logic in the server code has been redesigned.
- Win32 version: Now the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive is being
closed properly on restoring display settings, on disconnect. This
change should solve the problem with unloading the registry on
logout, when WinVNC is running as a service.
- Win32 version: Problems with "QuerySetting" and "QueryTimeout"
options have been fixed -- the settings could be copied from user
configuration to default settings without user's intention.
- Win32 version: A long-standing bug has been fixed -- the logic to
handle retries after authentication failures was flawed, and used
to delete the same object twice under certain conditions.
- Win32 version: Now it's possible to specify port numbers with the
winvnc -connect option, using the "host::port" format. Also,
providing a -connect option without arguments now brings up the
"Add New Client" dialog.
- Unix version: New "Request refresh" button has been implemented in
the viewer's F8 popup menu.
- Unix version: Xvnc compilation fixes for HP-UX and MacOS X have
been applied, from Ki NETWORKS, Inc.
- Unix version: New vncpasswd -f command-line option has been
implemented. It allows providing passwords on stdin and writes
encrypted passwords to stdout. In addition, the password file name
"-" now denotes stdout. Finally, a buffer overflow has been fixed
in vncpasswd -- it could be caused by a long file name in the
command line.
- Unix version: A patch to fix input focus problems in the X11
viewer has been applied, from Greg Breland.
- Unix version: A patch fixing Xvnc crashes on Sparc has been
applied, from the RealVNC distribution.
- Unix version: A problem with incorrect port interpretation has
been fixed, in the vncviewer's -tunnel option handling. Thanks to
Clark Sessions.
- Java viewer: A modification from Bernd Krueger-Knauber has been
accepted, to pass through X keysyms for foreign currencies.
- Java viewer: The problem with initial keyboard focus not set to
the desktop on some JVMs has been fixed.
- Other minor improvements and bugfixes.
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* TightVNC 1.2.8
- Unix and Win32 versions: Support for a separate view-only password
has been implemented. Now the servers support two passwords -- one
to allow full control, another to restrict remote keyboard and
mouse input.
- Win32 version: The password reset problem has been solved. In
versions starting from 1.2.4, the password could get changed in
the registry on opening Properties dialog and just hitting the OK
button.
- Win32 version: New "-reload" command-line option has been
implemented in Win32 server. It forces the running instance to
reload the registry settings.
- Win32 version: "RemoveWallpaper" and "LockSetting" options have
been made configurable in the Properties dialog; the code has been
ported from RealVNC 3.3.6.
- Win32 version: Support for "AllowEditClients" registry setting has
been ported from RealVNC 3.3.6.
- Unix version: New "-x11cursor" option has been implemented in
vncviewer; a patch from Peter Astrand. This option allows using a
real X11 cursor with X11-style cursor shape updates, disables the
dot cursor, and disables cursor position updates in non-fullscreen
mode.
- Unix version: New "RunCommand" command to customize the X11
vncviewer popup menu has been implemented; a patch from Peter
Astrand.
- Unix version: Several patches from Debian Linux have been applied.
This should fix a number of bugs and improve building on some
platforms supported by Debian Linux.
- Unix version: A problem with Xvnc eating all CPU time after xfs
restarts has been fixed; a patch from Martin Koegler.
- Other minor improvements and bugfixes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* TightVNC 1.2.7
- Unix and Win32 versions, Java viewer: The most significant problem
with local cursor handling has been solved -- now clients can see
remote cursor movements performed on the server or by another
client. New PointerPos encoding and cursor shape updates both
minimize bandwidth requirements and greatly improve responsiveness
of the mouse pointer, while still allow to track correct pointer
position in all situations.
- Unix and Win32 versions: In all the places where display numbers
had to be used, now it's easy to use port numbers as well. The
viewers now allow to use new "hostname::port" syntax, in addition
to the traditional "hostname:display" format. The same new syntax
can be used in the "Add new client" dialog of Win32 server. In the
server, now it's equally easy to set display and port numbers.
Besides that, HTTP and RFB port numbers can be set individually.
- Unix and Win32 versions: In servers, decreased JPEG quality
factors for low quality levels. This improves bandwidth usage
while the image quality remains satisfactory in most cases. In
clients, JPEG compression is now enabled by default, because
usually it's a reasonable choice. To prevent viewers from
requesting JPEG compression, new -nojpeg option can be used.
- Unix and Win32 versions: Improved installer under Windows, better
RPMs for Linux.
- Win32 version: Major enhancements in layout and functionality of
the dialog boxes.
- Win32 version: New keyboard handling code has been ported from
RealVNC 3.3.6. This should solve all the issues with arrow keys
acting as numbers in console windows, and shift+arrows not working
under Win2k.
- Win32 version: Adopted WinVNC -reinstall option from RealVNC
3.3.5, together with a number of other changes in different
places. The viewer now accepts a port number after the -listen
command-line option, an improvement from RealVNC 3.3.6.
- Win32 version: Eliminated high CPU usage on the server before
sending cursor shape updates.
- Unix version: Bugfix for Xvnc's -localhost and -interface options
that were broken on many systems, thanks to Luke Mewburn for the
bugfix. Xvnc -version command-line option is now supported.
- Tight encoding is now documented in rfbproto.h files within source
archives.
- Java viewer: Implemented new buttons "Login again" and "Close
window" near the disconnect or error messages in the applet mode,
and introduced new "Offer Relogin" parameter to control this
improvement. Thanks to Peter Astrand for the initial version of
the "Login again" patch.
- Java viewer: Support for connections via HTTP proxies using HTTP
CONNECT method. This will not work in the applet mode, due to Java
security restrictions.
- Java viewer: Extra .vnc files have been removed, having just
index.vnc should be enough. Also, an example HTML page has been
prepared, to simplify installation under a standalone Web server.
- Java viewer: Added a MANIFEST to the JAR archive, to allow easy
execution of the JAR file, using java -jar command-line option.
- Other minor improvements and bugfixes.
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* TightVNC 1.2.6
- Win32 version: In this version, when WinVNC binds to a local TCP
port, it does not try to check several times if the port is in
use. It just re-uses the port if the display number is not set to
"Auto". One visible effect of this change is that the delay
between starting up and showing the icon is greatly reduced.
- Unix version: Fixed the bug which caused the vncserver script to
fail when the XAUTHORITY environment variable was not set.
- Unix version: Fixed the bug which prevented the vncpasswd utility
from setting correct permissions on the passwd file.
- Unix version: Fixed a repeated challenge replay attack
vulnerability, bugtraq id 5296.
- Unix version: Added files to simplify building of Linux RPMs,
thanks to Peter Astrand.
- Unix version: Improved scrolling in the full-screen mode, modified
patch from Ville Herva.
- Minor cleanups.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* TightVNC 1.2.5
- Win32 version: Fixed a problem in the I/O subsystem that was
introduced in TightVNC 1.2.2 and was causing major slowdown in
communication with clients.
- Win32 version: Enabled remote upgrade in the installation script.
Also, the installer will install a copy of the TightVNC Web site,
and will create shortcuts to most important documentation pages.
- Win32 version: Implemented new feature to specify applet
parameters in URL requests being sent to the built-in HTTP server.
Added support for new "EnableURLParams" registry setting which can
be used to enable this feature.
- Win32 version: Added support for the NewFBSize pseudo-encoding
allowing to change framebuffer geometry on the fly on server's
request.
- Win32 version: Included "solution" and "project" files for MS
Visual Studio 7, from Andrew van der Stock, applied a set of minor
fixes to suppress compilation warnings under MS Visual Studio 7.
- Win32 version: The viewer now tries to preserve the size and
position of the desktop window after applying new connection
options.
- Unix version: Implemented new feature to specify applet parameters
in URL requests being sent to the built-in HTTP server. Added
support for new $PARAMS variable in .vnc HTML templates.
- Unix version: Added the possibility to keep users' vnc directories
under /tmp, as suggested by Ivan Popov. This mode can be enabled
by editing the $vncUserDir variable in the vncserver script. Also,
new -t option has been implemented in the vncpasswd utility which
allows to change VNC password files under /tmp.
- Unix version: Applied Xvnc -viewonly patch from Ehud Karni.
- Unix version: Applied Linux/PowerPC Xvnc fix from Peter A. Castro.
- Unix version: Bug fixed: Xvnc failed to reset compression level
and JPEG image quality on reading lists of encodings supported by
clients.
- Unix version: Made the viewer handle XCursor encoding operating on
the framebuffer instead of setting new cursors directly in X.
- Unix version: Applied a number of porting fixes from Ki Networks,
Inc.
- Java viewer: Added new feature allowing to save RFB sessions in
FBS files compatible with rfbproxy. This feature works only if JVM
security manager allows access to the local filesystem, which is
usually true only when the viewer is used as a standalone
application or if the viewer applet is cryptographically signed.
New "Record" button will appear in the button panel if this
feature is enabled.
- Java viewer: Added new "ENCPASSWORD" parameter, modified patch
from Peter Astrand.
- Java viewer: Applied patch from Peter Astrand to fix problems with
Swedish keys and broken JVMs.
- Other minor fixes and cleanups.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* TightVNC 1.2.4
- Win32 version: WinVNC crashes on reporting zero statistics were
fixed. This should eliminate crashes when using x2vnc and win2vnc
client programs.
- Win32 version: a problem with listening viewer was fixed.
Initiating multiple non-shared connections could crash the viewer
application.
- Win32 version: real passwords are never placed into the password
text control in the WinVNC Properties dialog any more. This should
prevent grabbing plain-text passwords from that text control.
- Win32 version: logging on errors was improved to provide better
diagnosis for errors, especially for those causing the message
"Connection closed" right after authentication.
- Win32 version: handling of log files was improved. Now WinVNC
should be able to save backup copies of log files under
Win95/98/Me. Also, all log files are now written in MS-DOS/Windows
text format instead of the Unix one.
- Win32 version: a problem with reporting error messages in the
listening viewer was fixed.
- Win32 version: reporting incorrect statistics in the Tight encoder
was fixed.
- Win32 version: HTML pages and templates for the built-in HTTP
server were improved.
- Unix version: applied patch from Ki Networks, Inc. solving build
problems on a number of commercial Unix systems, and fixing a
number of minor bugs and typos.
- Unix version: added a possibility to denote standard input with
the "-" file name instead of a real password file name.
- Unix version: fixed a bug causing vncpasswd utility work
incorrectly when a file name argument was given in the command
line.
- Unix version: applied patch to solve keyboard focus problems in
the full-screen vncviewer, from Peter Astrand. The patch does not
seem to solve all the issues, but definitely makes things better.
New grabKeyboard resource was added to control full-screen mode
behavior.
- Java viewer: new "Show Offline Desktop" parameter was added to
make the desktop still visible even after the remote side has
closed connection.
- Java viewer: error messages were made much more meaningful.
- Java viewer: keyboard focus problems were fixed. This should
prevent opening new windows (e.g. Options or Clipboard) behind the
active authenticator or desktop window.
- Java viewer: now "R"/"r" keys can be used to request screen
updates in view-only mode.
- Java viewer: applied patch from Peter Astrand to fix problems with
Swedish keys and broken JVMs.
- Other minor fixes and cleanups.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* TightVNC 1.2.3
- Unix and Win32 versions: zlib library was updated to the most
recent version (1.1.4) where a potential security issue was fixed.
- Unix and Win32 versions: fixed blocking I/O problems in built-in
HTTP servers. Older versions had to wait while one client finishes
his transaction, only then they served new client connections,
thus making easy denial-of-service attacks possible.
- Unix and Win32 versions: updated built-in Java viewer, see details
below.
- Win32 version: Added support for mouse wheel events. Wheel mouse
support is fully compatible and interoperable with Unix version
where this feature was available for a long time.
- Win32 version (WinVNC): The -connect command-line option now
accepts a display number after a hostname.
- Win32 version: Creating associations for .vnc files in the
installer.
- Java viewer was GREATLY improved: the code was converted to Java
1.1, painting techniques were re-designed completely (now the
viewer should work in MacOS), several new parameters were added,
all parameters were documented in the README file. Most important
new features include: support for 24-bit colors, JPEG support in
Tight encoding, RFB Bell message support, new "Refresh" button, a
possibility to operate in a separate scrollable window, dynamic
view-only mode. Many more changes were introduces, see the
ChangeLog for more information. Please note that new Java viewer
class names were changed, e.g. vncviewer.jar file has become
VncViewer.jar etc.
- Unix version: a number of changes in the vncserver script, e.g.
the default color depth is now 24, extra delay after Xvnc startup
removed, font path is now configurable in the beginning of the
script, and more.
- Unix version: zlib library was removed from the core X sources.
Instead, both vncviewer and Xvnc now can use either system zlib
and JPEG libraries, or ones packaged within TightVNC source
archive in the lib/ directory. Unix sources are distributed in two
versions: one with these libraries for those who don't have them
installed in the system, and another version without libraries,
copied directly from CVS, for those who do have zlib and/or JPEG
libraries installed. In the former case, build procedure would
include additional "make libs" step. System libraries will be
linked dynamically, libraries included in the source archive will
be linked in statically.
- Unix version now includes comprehensive manual pages for
vncviewer, vncserver, Xvnc, vncconnect and vncpasswd programs. The
vncinstall script in the source distribution now accepts one more
parameter allowing to specify where to install manual pages.
- Unix version (Xvnc): a number of patches from Red Hat Linux vnc
package were incorporated into the TightVNC codebase. This adds
support for more architectures including s390 and s390x, adds a
possibility to use tcp_wrappers for Xvnc access control.
- Unix version (Xvnc): several bugfixes, e.g. applied patch to fix
crash in the code dealing with font server; fixed word alignment
problem in raw encoder experienced by Sparc users.
- Unix version is no more distributed as patches to a standard VNC
release. This is because patches cannot handle changes in binary
files and handle file removals very inefficiently.
- Other minor fixes and cleanups.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* TightVNC 1.2.2
- Win32 server: long-standing Win9x resource consumption problem has
been fixed. Now the server thread does not use blocking I/O, and
therefore is always ready to process messages from the VNCHooks
DLL.
- Win32 server: now built-in HTTP daemon may be enabled and disabled
interactively from the Advanced Preferences dialog (this setting
is saved in new "EnableHTTPDaemon" registry key).
- Win32 server: changes in layout and text of the Advanced
Preferences dialog.
- Xvnc: Minor bugfix which should prevent potential dereference of a
NULL pointer.
- Unix viewer: Now viewer window would be raised on beep (bell)
event, unless new -noraiseonbeep option is provided in the command
line or "raiseOnBeep" resource set to False.
- One more packaging option for the Unix source: ready to build
archive with Zlib and JPEG libraries inside.
- Other minor fixes and cleanups.
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* TightVNC 1.2.1
- Win32 server: added support for reverse connections on ports other
than 5500, modified patch from Steve Kann.
- Win32 viewer: added support for new command-line options:
-noshared and -encoding XXX.
- Bugfixes in Win32 viewer: changes in exception handling eliminate
Borland C++ compilation problems causing application crashes on
repetitive connections, notably in the listen mode. Also, now
warning exceptions causing disconnects are reported to user,
except for the case when a user has closed the viewer window.
- Better packaging in Win32 version: self-installing package is
available, vncviewer now shows correct icon image.
- Unix vncviewer: Default tunneling command template has been
changed, to allow tunneled connections to hosts where only
loopback VNC connections are enabled. New -via <GATEWAY>
command-line option provides enhanced tunneling functionality, now
one can make vncviewer tunnel connections to a VNC host via third
machine acting as a gateway.
- Java viewer: Addition of new parameters PASSWORD, "Show Controls",
and "View Only", modified patch from Steve Kann.
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* TightVNC 1.2.0
- Tight encoding is now configurable and can operate at different
compression levels where low compression levels are very fast in
terms of CPU usage. New "-compresslevel N" option implemented in
vncviewer to set compression levels for Tight encoding (1 - fast,
9 - best).
- Enhanced techniques to split large rectangles in Tight encoder;
now it tries to find large solid-color areas and send them in
separate rectangles.
- Lossy JPEG compression in Tight encoding has been implemented, new
"-quality N" vncviewer option should be used to enable this
feature (0 - low image quality and best compression, 9 - best
image quality). JPEG compression is used only for screen areas
that seem to be suitable for JPEG compression (although algorithms
to detect such areas are not perfect, of course).
- New "XCursor" and "RichCursor" encodings implemented. They are
used to transmit cursor shape updates from server to clients
("local cursor" feature requested by many users). Mouse movement
no longer causes framebuffer updates to happen, vncviewer
processes mouse locally when this feature is active. New
-nocursorshape vncviewer option turns this feature off.
- A number of recent changes from both TridiaVNC and AT&T's releases
merged into the source, now the code is based on version 3.3.3r2
for Unix part, and on 3.3.3r9 for Win32.
- Unix vncviewer: When -tunnel option is specified in the command
line, special rules are now used to choose preferred encoding. Now
viewer does not think that server is running on the same machine
when tunneling is on and the preferred encoding is now "tight"
with default compression instead of raw.
- Xvnc: Rules to set default pixel formats have been changed: now
they are RGB565 instead of BGR556 for color depth 16, and RGB888
instead of BGR888 for depth 24. This makes Xvnc compatible with
Imlib renderer used in Gnome and also helps to avoid unnecessary
pixel format translations in many cases.
- Xvnc: X11 modifier mapped to META key is now Mod4 instead of Mod1.
New -compatiblekbd option implemented in Xvnc to force META and
ALT keys behave the same way as they do in the original AT&T's
version.
- A number of bugs fixed: viewer crashes after inflate() call, Xvnc
CoRRE encoding problems, Xvnc bit-order issues in XCursor and
RichCursor encodings, etc.
- Java viewer now supports Tight encoding and cursor shape updates.
Drawing techniques were changed, settings "Raw pixel drawing:
Fast/Reliable" and "CopyRect: Fast/Reliable" removed from the
Options panel since they do not make sense in new drawing model.
- Other new features, optimizations, fixes and cleanups, see
ChangeLog files.
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* VNC Tight Encoding 1.1
- New ``gradient'' filter implemented in servers (it can be disabled
in Xvnc with new -lazytight option). The filter preprocess
full-color screen areas prior to compression in order to achieve
better compression ratios (with the cost of slower compression).
Vncviewers of version 1.0 had support for this filter already, but
there was small bug causing image distortions in certain cases. So
it is recommended to upgrade both servers and viewers.
- Stupid bug fixed: extra unused color was included in palettes in
many cases; compression ratios used to be worse than they should
be.
- The algorithm used to split large rectangles into parts has been
changed. This change can increase compression ratios in many
situations.
- Byte-order issues in servers have been (hopefully) fixed.
- Performance tuning, code rewrites and cleanups in various places.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
* VNC Tight Encoding 1.0
- Initial release.
----------------------------------------------------------------------