The Ignite Realtime community has just released Spark 2.8.0 and it can be downloaded from Ignite Realtime: Downloads.
This is a major release marking the end of support for Java 7 (which has reached the end of life state more than a year ago). Full Spark installers have already been bundled with Java 8 for some time. Online installer won’t work with Java 7 starting with 2.8.0 version. We recommend updating to Java 8. Underlying Smack library has been updated to the latest version in this release. Roar plugin has received new popup control options as well.
There is a huge list of changes in this version. So this most probably has introduced new issues (though we have tried to catch and fix most of them before the release). Please report in the forums, if you find them. Again, please do not post bug reports in the comments of this blog post.
For a complete list of changes please check Spark Changelog
As usually we encourage new developers to join Spark project and provide patches. Those familiar with Smack can join the development easier, as we are now on the current version of it (4.1.8 at the moment of this release). Patches can be attached in the forums or submitted as PRs on GitHub.
Here are the contributors to this release (besides myself):
@Wolf updated Roar plugin to have separate settings for group chat and keyword matching popups, added system style popups
Alexander198961 · GitHub added option to save room’s password, added URL support to admin’s broadcast dialog
@Леонід added Ukrainian translation
nicoben (Nico Ben) · GitHub updated Italian translation
@speedy fixed failed login process with self-signed certificates, updated Substance skin library, fixed an issue with idle on Windows 10 lock screen
@Daryl Herzmann fixed Debian build
We owe @Guus der Kinderen a separate mention. Guus has done a huge job of updating Spark to the current Smack version, which contains a lot of bug fixes, security patches and new features. He has also fixed many other issues along the way. Such as group chat window size issues, room occupants presence management, annoying word wrapping issue with long text lines, SSO/GSSAPI problems, etc.
Important information for SSO (Single Sign On) users, if they are using SRV records: SSO (Single Sign On) configuration changes since Spark 2.8.0
UPDATE: Important information for those having login issues with 2.8.0: Login issues since Spark 2.8.0
[SIP phone] SIP plugin is not working since the Smack 4 update. We hope to have it fixed for 2.8.1.
[Voice Chat] Jingle (PC to PC) calls are not working at this point.
[Linux] Flashing plugin is not working on Linux systems.
Here are sha1 checksums for the downloads:
6fa1265e7def8800e0a4356bd1b7d8cf58bb85f8 spark_2_8_0.dmg
741c20d9141c88ecde08d60fbc11145887d32573 spark_2_8_0.exe
b76e36da81469561fdad4a227fa4ad68d792ca7b spark_2_8_0_online.exe
e2fcdddb4e84f6f1abe9d62a39aa0c7c9e06d814 spark_2_8_0.tar.gz
a772028ba10db2084ea7e2b7b1fb408803c77a5b spark-2.8.0.rpm
38ca0d9ab5ccd7d61be03b702a0abd5c8939ada5 spark-2.8.0.src.rpm
fba8705d54f49bceb62f19a30348482f9bbeacfb spark_2_8_0.deb