XBMC 10.0 Beta 2 released

Just over two weeks since the first beta arrived, the XBMC project has issued the second beta for version 10.0 of its open source media player, code named "Dharma". According to the developers, the latest development preview of their cross-platform media player software and entertainment system application framework addresses a number of issues from the previous release and builds on the new Add-on system introduced in the first beta.

The new Add-on system allows script-writers, skinners and designers to customise a user's XBMC experience and, in Beta 2, developers can add web interfaces as Add-ons. The XBMC team say this means that they will be able to keep the media player's new interface, which is still something of a work in progress, and that developers can now submit their interfaces to the project's official repository. A number of add-ons are already in development, including remote control, file management and meta-data editing add-ons. Other changes include a "substantial number of add-on" updates, bug fixes and various translation updates.

The developers say that, to keep the version numbering simple, the next stable version of XBMC, built on Dharma 10.0, will be labelled as version 11.0 and code named "Eden". Previously the team used a year.month scheme to name the stable releases, however, this proved to be "problematic because it forced [the developers] to estimate the release date, and to bump the version number if [they] fell behind schedule".

As with all development releases, production use is not advised. The developers advise users to back up their profiles in case they decide to roll back to the previous version. Users testing the release are encouraged to provide feedback and report any bugs that they encounter.

Further information about the second beta can be found in the official release announcement and in the change log. XBMC 10.0 Beta 2 is available to download from one of the project's mirrors; a PPA is available for Ubuntu users. XBMC source code is hosted on SourceForge and is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The most recent stable release is version 9.11 from the end of December, 2009.

See also:

• Open source Plex media center to run on LG TVs, a report from The H.
• Plex media centre adds support for hardware-accelerated video decoding, a report from The H.
• Open source media Centre Boxee adds Movie Library, a report from The H.

(crve)