Release Notes

1. Improved "Building Crystals" Collection. Added a new Covalent Structures group with animated tours of Diamond and Graphite. Renamed the "Filling Interstices" group as "Ionic Structures" and moved Spinel and Hematite to "Non Silicates" and Olivine to "Silicates".

2. Expanded Structures Library. Crystal structures of 13 new minerals have been added to the library. These are: Alabandite, Cattierite, Coloradoite, Daubreelite, Ferrihydrite Mackinawite, Polydymite, Pseudorutile, Smythite, Trevorite, Tungstenite, Vaesite, Vysotskite.

3. Miscellaneous. This version includes miscellaneous enhancements and fixes.

   • Workaround for Apple graphics bug on M1 processors: bonds were being displayed in red or black. This issue has been reported to Apple; in the meantime, we have devised a workaround.

   • Improved licensing agreement viewer (as accessed via the Licence button in the "About" window. This no longer requires users to explicitly "agree" or "disagree" when merely reviewing the content.

   • Fixed miscellaneous text-formatting issues with macOS 11 "Big Sur".

   • This version includes additional stability improvements and integrity checks to ensure safe operation.

1. Improved Demo Version. In the free "Demo" mode, all structure thumbnails are now visible, making it easier to assess the range and scope of structures provided. This applies to the Reference Collections (Gallery, Materials, Minerals, Elements) and all Learning Collections (Atomic Radii, Lattice Types, Defects, Polyhedra, Building Crystals, Crystal Chemistry and Quiz). Note that thumbnails cannot be resized in Demo Mode, and that "List View" is disabled.

2. Improved Structure-of-the-Day Window. This window has a sleek new look, with a full-size content view and transparent toolbar, and now appears with the Structures Library (which gives time for the latter to load fully).

3. Expanded Teaching Collection. The Building Crystals section includes new tutorial files, introducing Close Packing, Interstices, Silicate Polymerization and the Kaolinite ("China Clay") structure.

4. Expanded Structures Library. Crystal structures of four new minerals have been added to the library. These are: Akimotoite, Brewsterite, Ferrierite and Neighborite.

5. Miscellaneous. This version includes miscellaneous enhancements and fixes.

   • Double-clicking a folder item in the Sidebar now toggles it open or closed.

   • Worked around a system issue which could cause a crash when structures without any visible atoms were loaded.

   • Toolbar buttons are now correctly sized on macOS 10.15 "Catalina" and earlier.

   • The Browser's thumbnail size-slider no longer has its "thumb" clipped, when using macOS 11 "Big Sur".

1. Comprehensive Teaching Collection. The Building Crystals section has been greatly enhanced in this release, with the addition of 9 new tutorial files and the reorganisation of the section into tutorial groups:

   1. Close Packing. Includes very-detailed guides to hexagonal- and cubic close packing.

   2. Filling Interstices. Structures based on the filling of interstitial sites in (quasi) close-packed structures. Wurtzite, Sphalerite, Halite, Olivine, Spinel.

   3. Silicate Polymerisation. Garnet, Pyroxene, Amphibole, Mica, Feldspar, Quartz, Zeolite ZK5.

   4. Non Silicates. Calcite.

   5. New Materials. YBCO, ZIF-8.

2. Expanded Structures Library. Crystal structures of 11 new mineral have been added to the library. These are: Annite, Augelite, Bitylite, Edingtonite, Garronite, Gonnardite, Hafnon, Hydroxapatite, Kirschsteinite, Liebenbergite and Whitlockite.

3. Miscellaneous. This version includes miscellaneous enhancements and fixes.

   • Minor improvements and corrections to the User's Guide and Online Help.

   • Fixed a bug which led to some items being incorrectly sorted in the Browser view.

   • The "Index" commands are now disabled in "Demo" mode, as otherwise they resulted in a blank sidebar and a blank browser.

This is an all-new 64-bit application.