<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel" xmlns:p="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:powerpoint" xmlns:a="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:access" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:s="uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882" xmlns:rs="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" xmlns:b="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:publisher" xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet" xmlns:c="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:component:spreadsheet" xmlns:odc="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:odc" xmlns:oa="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:activation" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:q="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:D="DAV:" xmlns:mt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/meetings/" xmlns:x2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2003/xml" xmlns:ois="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/ois/" xmlns:dir="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/directory/" xmlns:ds="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:dsp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dsp" xmlns:udc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:sub="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/2002/1/alerts/" xmlns:ec="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#" xmlns:sp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" xmlns:sps="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:udcs="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/soap" xmlns:udcxf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/xmlfile" xmlns:udcp2p="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/parttopart" xmlns:wf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/workflow/" xmlns:dsss="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig-setup" xmlns:dssi="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig" xmlns:mdssi="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/digital-signature" xmlns:mver="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns:mrels="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships" xmlns:spwp="http://microsoft.com/sharepoint/webpartpages" xmlns:ex12t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" xmlns:ex12m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" xmlns:pptsl="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/SlideLibrary/" xmlns:spsl="http://microsoft.com/webservices/SharePointPortalServer/PublishedLinksService" xmlns:Z="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" xmlns:st="&#1;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">

<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)">
<style>
<!--
 /* Font Definitions */
 @font-face
        {font-family:"Cambria Math";
        panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
        {font-family:Calibri;
        panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
 /* Style Definitions */
 p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
        {margin:0in;
        margin-bottom:.0001pt;
        font-size:11.0pt;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
        {mso-style-priority:99;
        color:blue;
        text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
        {mso-style-priority:99;
        color:purple;
        text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph
        {mso-style-priority:34;
        margin-top:0in;
        margin-right:0in;
        margin-bottom:0in;
        margin-left:.5in;
        margin-bottom:.0001pt;
        font-size:11.0pt;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
span.EmailStyle18
        {mso-style-type:personal;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
        color:windowtext;}
span.EmailStyle19
        {mso-style-type:personal;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
        color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle20
        {mso-style-type:personal;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
        color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle21
        {mso-style-type:personal;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
        color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle22
        {mso-style-type:personal;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
        color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle23
        {mso-style-type:personal;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
        color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle24
        {mso-style-type:personal;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
        color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle25
        {mso-style-type:personal-reply;
        font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
        color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
        {mso-style-type:export-only;
        font-size:10.0pt;}
@page Section1
        {size:8.5in 11.0in;
        margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.Section1
        {page:Section1;}
 /* List Definitions */
 @list l0
        {mso-list-id:1151630178;
        mso-list-type:hybrid;
        mso-list-template-ids:-178730512 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715;}
@list l0:level1
        {mso-level-tab-stop:none;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level2
        {mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level3
        {mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level4
        {mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level5
        {mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level6
        {mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level7
        {mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level8
        {mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level9
        {mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1
        {mso-list-id:1232886085;
        mso-list-type:hybrid;
        mso-list-template-ids:621284916 -41511504 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l1:level1
        {mso-level-number-format:bullet;
        mso-level-text:\F0B7;
        mso-level-tab-stop:none;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;
        font-family:Symbol;
        mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
        mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l1:level2
        {mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1:level3
        {mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1:level4
        {mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1:level5
        {mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1:level6
        {mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1:level7
        {mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1:level8
        {mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l1:level9
        {mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
        mso-level-number-position:left;
        text-indent:-.25in;}
ol
        {margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
        {margin-bottom:0in;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
 <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
 <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
  <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
 </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>

<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>

<div class=Section1>

<p class=MsoNormal>Hello Python Community,<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>We&#8217;re pleased to announce the release of IronPython
2.6 Alpha 1.&nbsp; As you might imagine, this release is all about supporting
new CPython 2.6 features such as the &#8216;bytes&#8217; and
&#8216;bytearray&#8217; types (PEP 3112), decorators for classes (PEP 3129),
advanced string formatting (PEP 3101), etc. &nbsp;The minimum .NET version
required for this release is the same as IronPython 2.0; namely .NET 2.0
Service Pack 1.&nbsp; Unlike the 2.0 series of IronPython, we plan to release
only a couple Alphas and Betas of IronPython 2.6. &nbsp;As such, it&#8217;s key
that we get your feedback on the release(s) quickly to incorporate requested
changes.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>Besides CPython 2.6 features, another significant change in
this release is that ipy.exe now uses &#8220;adaptive compilation&#8221; by
default.&nbsp; Adaptive compilation is a technique in which IronPython:<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>1.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span></span><![endif]>Interprets and executes Python method calls up to <i>N</i>
times for a given method.&nbsp; If you&#8217;re only going to execute a method
a few times, it&#8217;s typically faster to interpret the method instead of
compiling and executing it<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>2.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span></span><![endif]>Compiles and executes the Python method call &nbsp;on
the <i>N+1</i> invocation of the method.&nbsp; Compilation of a Python method
is a heavyweight operation, but we can reuse the result for subsequent
invocations<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>3.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span></span><![endif]>Reuses the previously compiled method for new calls to
the Python method.&nbsp; This operation is much faster than interpreting the
method call as the method was already compiled in the previous step<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>The reason for this change is that it provides a nice
performance gain for Python code containing lots of functions/methods that only
get called a few times.&nbsp; All this said, this feature is still undergoing
active development and as a consequence some Python scripts may actually run
slower with it turned on.&nbsp; For this reason, our old default mode of
running Python scripts is still available by passing the &#8211;O or -D flags
to ipy.exe.&nbsp; Any feedback on how this new feature affects your IronPython
applications performance-wise would be greatly appreciated.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>There&#8217;s also a few minor changes since IronPython
2.0.1 that are worth calling out here:<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>&middot;<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span></span></span><![endif]>IronPython.msi now installs NGEN&#8217;ed
binaries by default<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>&middot;<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span></span></span><![endif]>IronPython.msi now offers a little more selection
with respect to what you&#8217;d like to install.&nbsp; For example,
Silverlight templates are optional<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>&middot;<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span></span></span><![endif]>The default installation location of
IronPython.msi no longer indicates whether the 2.6 release is an Alpha, Beta,
or a patched release.&nbsp; Future IronPython 2.6 installations will replace
previous 2.6 releases which will be uninstalled automatically<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>&middot;<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span></span></span><![endif]>The -X:PreferComInteropAssembly flag has been
removed.&nbsp; All COM interop is now done through normal COM dispatch <o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>You can download IronPython 2.6 Alpha 1 at: &nbsp;<a
href="http://ironpython.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=22982"><span
style='color:windowtext'>http://ironpython.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=22982</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>The IronPython Team<o:p></o:p></p>

</div>

</body>

</html>