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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.4.0.md')
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diff --git a/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.4.0.md b/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.4.0.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..145072a369 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.4.0.md @@ -0,0 +1,70 @@ +Bitcoin version 0.4.0 is now available for download at: +http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitcoin/files/Bitcoin/bitcoin-0.4.0/ + +The main feature in this release is wallet private key encryption; +you can set a passphrase that must be entered before sending coins. +See below for more information; if you decide to encrypt your wallet, +WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSPHRASE AND PUT IT IN A SECURE LOCATION. If you +forget or lose your wallet passphrase, you lose your bitcoins. +Previous versions of bitcoin are unable to read encrypted wallets, +and will crash on startup if the wallet is encrypted. + +Also note: bitcoin version 0.4 uses a newer version of Berkeley DB +(bdb version 4.8) than previous versions (bdb 4.7). If you upgrade +to version 0.4 and then revert back to an earlier version of bitcoin +the it may be unable to start because bdb 4.7 cannot read bdb 4.8 +"log" files. + + +Notable bug fixes from version 0.3.24: + +Fix several bitcoin-becomes-unresponsive bugs due to multithreading +deadlocks. + +Optimize database writes for large (lots of inputs) transactions +(fixes a potential denial-of-service attack) + + +Wallet Encryption + +Bitcoin supports native wallet encryption so that people who steal your +wallet file don't automatically get access to all of your Bitcoins. +In order to enable this feature, choose "Encrypt Wallet" from the +Options menu. You will be prompted to enter a passphrase, which +will be used as the key to encrypt your wallet and will be needed +every time you wish to send Bitcoins. If you lose this passphrase, +you will lose access to spend all of the bitcoins in your wallet, +no one, not even the Bitcoin developers can recover your Bitcoins. +This means you are responsible for your own security, store your +passphrase in a secure location and do not forget it. + +Remember that the encryption built into bitcoin only encrypts the +actual keys which are required to send your bitcoins, not the full +wallet. This means that someone who steals your wallet file will +be able to see all the addresses which belong to you, as well as the +relevant transactions, you are only protected from someone spending +your coins. + +It is recommended that you backup your wallet file before you +encrypt your wallet. To do this, close the Bitcoin client and +copy the wallet.dat file from ~/.bitcoin/ on Linux, /Users/(user +name)/Application Support/Bitcoin/ on Mac OSX, and %APPDATA%/Bitcoin/ +on Windows (that is /Users/(user name)/AppData/Roaming/Bitcoin on +Windows Vista and 7 and /Documents and Settings/(user name)/Application +Data/Bitcoin on Windows XP). Once you have copied that file to a +safe location, reopen the Bitcoin client and Encrypt your wallet. +If everything goes fine, delete the backup and enjoy your encrypted +wallet. Note that once you encrypt your wallet, you will never be +able to go back to a version of the Bitcoin client older than 0.4. + +Keep in mind that you are always responsible for your own security. +All it takes is a slightly more advanced wallet-stealing trojan which +installs a keylogger to steal your wallet passphrase as you enter it +in addition to your wallet file and you have lost all your Bitcoins. +Wallet encryption cannot keep you safe if you do not practice +good security, such as running up-to-date antivirus software, only +entering your wallet passphrase in the Bitcoin client and using the +same passphrase only as your wallet passphrase. + +See the doc/README file in the bitcoin source for technical details +of wallet encryption. |