14 DAY TRIAL // Kodi is the new name of the XBMC project, which is a software media player and entertainment hub. A new Release Candidate has been released and it looks like we are very close to get the final version of this application.
Many users will have to get used to the new Kodi name, as the XBMC one is going away. It's been around for a long time and the project has quite a following, but users need to know that XBMC is only changing the name to Kodi, everything else will remain the same.
The new Kodi 14.0 upcoming release is a true upgrade over the XBMC 13.x branch, but that would have happened nonetheless, even without the name change.
The Release Candidates for Kodi have arrived in quick succession and the devs are not wasting any time. The bugs marked so far have been fixed and the team has made some visible changes, like a new logo and the latest FFMpeg.
What's changed in Kodi 14.0 RC3
"Although we announced our first release candidate not long ago, we’re proud to release our third one in the 14.0 Helix range. Some might find it odd that we do so many releases in this short period of time. We can assure you that this is by intention. By doing more rapid releases we get better feedback if changes done by our developers are actually affective and thus create a better final release."
"This 14.0 release brings many updates and changes, not the least of which is the change to the software’s name and logo. The release candidate cycle will also be the first to include the official logo of Kodi!" reads the announcement.
Some of the most important changes include a new version of FFmpeg, 2.2.4, and a ton of changes. For example, setting new video sources should work just fine now, some crashes that occurred with the Intel GPU have been fixed, the GUI has been updated to accommodate some of the newer translations, and the PVR history has been corrected.
You can download Kodi 14.0 RC3 from Softpedia and give it a go. This is just the source package, so you'll have to compile it. The devs provide a number of other means of installing it, like a PPA for Ubuntu. Also, users need to keep in mind that any new major upgrade can cause problems with the add-ons, which might now be compatible.
