Dolphin Emulator is adopting a new rolling release schedule and version numbering scheme. So, say goodbye to the eight-year-old Dolphin 5.0 release. Dolphin 2407 is available today on all major platforms.
The new rolling release structure effectively turns Dolphin’s “beta builds” into full, proper releases. While this may sound a bit unorthodox, users were supposed to follow Dolphin 5.0’s beta update track, as “stable” versions of the emulator were always comically outdated. Converting the beta track to the primary release pathway resolves a point of confusion for newcomers and makes it easier for new versions of Dolphin to make their way through distributors like Debian or Flatpak.
Dolphin’s new version numbering system is based on release year and month (YYMM). So, today’s July 2024 release is named “Dolphin 2407.” When a hotfix is applied to one of these releases, it will be noted through an alphabetical suffix—Dolphin 2407 may become Dolphin 2407a, for example. It’s a much clearer naming structure that will greatly improve both documentation and technical support.
There’s also a dedicated numerical suffix system for the dev channel. The numbers appended to a dev build will reflect the number of commits that have been pushed by the Dolphin team. If there are 150 commits after the 2407 release, we’ll get a dev build named Dolphin 2407-150.
Just know that today’s Dolphin 2407 release does not contain any notable bugfixes or improvements. This update simply lays the groundwork for Dolphin’s new rolling release cycle. It also provides a symbolic introduction to the latest era of Dolphin Emulator.
Another act of symbolism comes in the form of a redesigned Dolphin Emulator logo, seen above. It’s really just a softer, brighter version of the old logo. MayImilae, the logo’s designer, says that this softer image is a reflection of Dolphin’s increased maturity—the emulator isn’t an “edgy” underdog anymore, as it has become somewhat synonymous with Gamecube and Wii gaming.
We may receive a more substantial Dolphin update later this year. The Dolphin team also appears to be working on a new Progress Report, which should give us an idea of what’s to come. You can install the 2407 release from the Dolphin downloads page.
Source: Dolphin
