Hello fellow Python enthusiasts, The source tarballs and Windows installers for the second (and hopefully last) Python 2.6.6 release candidate is now available: http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.6/ We've had a handful of important fixes since rc1, and of course a huge number of bugs have been fixed since 2.6.5, with the full NEWS file available here: http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.6/NEWS.txt We would love it if you can download, install, and test this version with your favorite projects and on your favorite platforms. We expect to release Python 2.6.6 final on August 24, 2010. Please note that with the release of Python 2.7 final on July 3, 2010, and in accordance with Python policy, Python 2.6.6 is the last scheduled bug fix maintenance release of the 2.6 series. Because of this, your testing of this release candidate will help immensely. We plan on continuing to support source-only security fixes in Python 2.6 for the next five years. My thanks go out to everyone who has contributed with code, testing and bug tracker gardening for Python 2.6.6. The excellent folks on #python-dev are true Pythonic heros. Enjoy, -Barry (on behalf of the Python development community)