                    BEAST v2.4.4 2016
                 Beast 2 development team 2011-2016
Version History
Last updated: November 2016

All issues can be viewed at https://github.com/CompEvol/beast2/issues
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Version 2.4.4 November 2016
	Fix that prevented starting any BEAST application on Mac Sierra
	
	Smooth out some issues with importing Nexus files in BEAUti
	
	TreeAnnotator fix for use with user defined trees to annotate
	
	Allow smaller log files by logging fewer significant digits of metadata

Version 2.4.3 August 2016
	
	BEAUti
		Support for tip date sampling by setting 'tipsonly' in MRCA Priors
		Allow packages to specify priors, e.g. multi-monophyletic constraints in BEASTLabs
		Allow packages to specify file importers, which allows microsattelite support through the BEASTvntr package
		Gamma distribution allows multiple parameterisations
		Packages used now encoded in XML, for better error reporting of missing packages
		Better looking on high-res screens
		
	Package Manager
		Links to documentation available
		Better layout
		
	BEAST
		allow multiple citations per class
		allow trait sets with unspecified dates
		allow multiple arguments to Sum
		improved error reporting
		
	TreeAnnotator fix for phylogeography in low-mem mode.
	LogCombiner suppress duplicate '=' in tree output
	
Version 2.4.2 June 2016
     Applications are scalable, making them visible on high resolution screens

     BEAUti
         improved error reporting
     BEAST
         improved error reporting
         prevent closing window on parsing errors
     
     LogCombiner requires much less memory than before
     
     Densitree updated to version 2.2.5
     
Version 2.4.1 April 2016
     BEAUti
         import of calibrations from NEXUS files
         add App Launcher menu
         make missing *BEAST template available again
         save in old style XML, with less restricions on taxa names 
     Streamlined upgrades of BEAST
     
     BEAST
     	improved BEAGLE library loading from CLI
        test for spurious CUDA drivers on OSX, which used to cause a crash, but now provides instructions on how to solve this
        improved operator tuning for slightly better performance
        improved error reporting

     LogAnalyser shows progress on CLI again by default
        
Version 2.4.0 February 2016
    BEAST improved performance
        up to 2x faster when using proportion invariant sites
        improved threading support        
        "instances" flag replaces beagle_instances
        faster MRCAPrior handling
        StartBeastStartState works with calibrations with other than CalibratedYule
    
    BEAUti
        show mean of parametric distributions in priors panel
        better taxon management preventing adding numbers to taxon names 
        improved layout tip dates panel
        improved package list errors
        *BEAST clock cloning fix
        Allow setting branch length as substitution option on tree logger
        Improved JSON support
        
    Package manager
       Allow BEAST to be upgraded as a package
       Improved GUI
    
    For developers: http://beast2.org/2016/02/04/what-will-change-in-v2-4-0-for-developers/

Version 2.3.2 December 2015
	BEAUti
		path corrected so Standard and StarBeast templates are visible under templates menu
		import of traits from file when partitions are split fixed
		cloning of scripts with partition information fixed
		set up weights of FixedMeanRate operator when ascertainment correction is applied
		allows ParameterInputEditor to edit Parameter inputs
		
	BEAST
		add "-validate" command line option for parsing XML files without running them
		more efficient MRCAPrior
		more robust RandomTree
	
	LogCombiner
		ensured logcombiner burn in editing finished properly
		
	LogAnalyser now has one line per file mode, and CLI script added for ease of launch
		
	More sensible error messages (in TreeParser, RPNCalculator, NodeReheight, and more).

Version 2.3.1 September 2015
     BEAUti
       robustify (un)linking
	   improved Fasta import

	BEAST
	   support for uncertain alignments (see examples/testJukesCantorShortUncertain.xml) 
       improved error messages

    TreeAnnotator allows lower memory consumption

	AppStore, LogCombiners, LogAnalyser improved command line interface 

	Antlr based tree parsing

        DensiTree updated to v2.2.3

	BinaryCovarion model option to run as reversible model 

	Set log level by environment variable
	
Version 2.3.0 May 2015
	BEAUti fixes
		cloning, linking, unlinking bugs fixed
        more robust templates
        calibrations can be deleted now
		improved access to package folders
        improved import menu

	LogCombiner improved command line interface

	Fix synchronisation issues affecting ThreadedTreeLikelihood
    
	Auto load beast.jar, giving footprint for Mac

	Bug fix in EigenDecomposition affecting asymmetric rate matrices

	Reduced dependency on taxon order making multiple partition handling more robust

    Can keep running v2.2 and its packages alongside v2.3

	DensiTree updated to v2.2.2

Version 2.2.1 March 2015
	Support for multi-gamma-site-model package 

	BEAUti some bug fixes involved in linking/cloning + some cosmetic changes

	Better error reporting:
    - in BEAUti, estimate of relative substitution rate for single partition only caused BEAST to hang
    - check correct java version (8) is used
	- package manager warns when there is no internet connection

	Improved NEXUS Standard datatype support

	TreeAnnotator improved sampled ancestor support

	CLI script now sensitive to JAVA_HOME environment variable

	DensiTree updated to v2.2.1

Version 2.2.0 January 2015
	Uses Java 8 to facilitate package development, thus preventing version clashes with packages

	BEAUti default settings preventing common errors, template fixes, layout enhancements, error logging

	Enhanced package manager
	
	Better error reporting for finding common issues with XML files (such as *BEAST gene trees not covering all species)

	Improved install for Mac

	Over 300 commits for small bug fixes and performance enhancements (more readable XML, better NEXUS parsing, TreeAnnotator fix, etc.)

Version 2.1.3 May 2014
	Patch release
	
	*BEAST template fixed

	add AppStore for conveniently launching applications from packages

	improved FASTA support

	a few small fixes (BEAUti displays of log normal, monophyletic constraint logging, allow import of alignments with same name in BEAUti,etc.)


Version 2.1.2 April 2014
	Patch release

	BEAUti handles multiple partitions more conveniently

	improved package management

	fix bug in *BEAST template
	
	many small fixes (FASTA support, stochastic distributions, *BEAST operator weighting, etc.)


Version 2.1.1 January 2014
	Patch release speeding up BEAUti to handle large Nexus files and handle multiple files.


Version 2.1.0 December 2013
	Support for many more packages, including 
		o CladeAge for fossil calibrations
		o Sampled Ancestor Trees
		o Multi Type Trees for structured coalescent
		o Birth-Death SIR model
    If not already available these will be so soon.

	Support for JSON file format

	Beagle update issue resolved -- no more incorrectly calculated likelihoods

	Core refactored, for ease of developing packages

	*BEAST start state for getting faster through burn-in

	BEAUti many small fixes supporting more packages

	DensiTree and TreeAnnotator updated



Version 2.0.2 February 2013

	Beagle scale issue resolved, resulting in potentially faster 
	treelikelihood calculations

	Treeannotator and logcombiner updated to version 2
	
	BEAUti - use-ambiguities flag in partition panel

	colt and apache math-commons libraries included so not all add-ons
	need to supply them separately

	Support for path-sampling through beastii add-on



Version 2.0.c released on 1st December 2011

	New Features:
	
    Allows resuming an MCMC chain. Handy when the chain turns out to
    converge slower than expected.

    Real time tracking of ESSs while running a chain.

    Beauti allows reloading files, so that small changes do not require any
    XML editing.

    For developers, code is better documented, and only the most relevant
    classes are part of Beast 2 (i.e. no experimental research code), making
    it easier to learn.

    Easily extendible: for example, the BeastII add-on supports multi chain
    MCMC, some experimental likelihood calculations that are potentially
    faster than the base implementation, and a spread sheet GUI for
    manipulating models.    
