Due to a bug in the automatic licence upgrade procedure we have had to withdraw this service. It was tested, but the problem arose in storing different information locally to what is sent out in the licence.txt files. This problem has been cured for subsequent releases, but for now the normal licence form will need to be used.
It's finally here - sorry about the long delay. The Release Notes contains the full details of what has changed since the 2000.0 release (and also see the beta release announcement below). Any existing licence you have for the 2000.0 release will be invalid, but if you are an academic and already have an existing licence.txt file for the 2000.0 release then please paste this file into the licence upgrade form and you will be automatically emailed a new licence. New users or Commercial users who wish to upgrade will still need to fill out the standard licence form.
This is a beta-test version of the 2001 release. The complete changes are listed in the Release Notes. The most significant changes include Spin (a merger of Nip4 and Sip4), a graphical interface to the EMBOSS suite, the first test version of a "pre-finish" program for automating experiment suggestion, and the normal selection of bug fixes and incremental improvements.
The beta release contains a licence to work until November 11th, so it is not necessary to use the licence web form. See the Downloads page for details of how to obtain the package.
James Bonfield, not for the first time, has won a prize in The International Obfuscated C Code Contest http://www.ioccc.org/index.html. Those who have copies of the package source code, or who are waiting for our next release, may not be surprised by this result.