News in NetPhantom 8.0

In accordance with the long-term commitment of Mindus in providing a product attuned to today's computing environment, the new NetPhantom version 8 focuses on server-side functions and client enhancements that support the developing innovations in Java, with support for all Java Long Term Support releases, LTS, i.e. Java 8, 17, 21 and 25.

NetPhantom Editor 8 requires a 64-bit Windows operating system version 10 or 11. It also supports Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025. It comes with Java 8, 17, 21 and 25 by default in the NetPhantom Quick Start setup.

Big News: Support for next generation Copilot+ PC.

  • Native support for Windows 11 or Windows Server 2025 on ARM64 architecture ("aarch64"), without need for "Prism", for:
    • NetPhantom Editor (Eclipse and other compontents are Native ARM64),
    • NetPhantom Client
    • NetPhantom Server
    • NetPhantom Starter
    • NetPhantom License Manager
    • NetPhantom Cluster Controller
  • Native support for NetPhantom Starter for macOS running on Apple Silicon (ARM64 or "aarch64") as well as Intel/AMD ("x64"). Supported macOS versions ranges from the latest 26.x Tahoe to 14.x Sonoma.

All other NetPhantom components requires Java 8 Update 351 or better to run, the operating systems are not limited to Windows: you can use any operating system that supports the Java Runtime Environment SE 8 (Update 351) or better (such as Linux and macOS).

We recommend using OpenJDK or Eclipse Temurin latest LTS versions 25 or 21.

Below follows news implemented in NetPhantom since version 7.60 Build 8336.

Also see news in the previous versions.
 

News in Version 8.00 RC9 Build 8xxx

  • Support for Windows 11 on ARM and macOS on Intel and Apple Silicon
    All NetPhantom programs now supports these platforms, i.e. Windows on ARM or Copilot PC's, except NetPhantom Editor: macOS not supported.
     
  • NetPhantom Security Updates
    NetPhantom contains several security updates aligned with the hardening of encryption, signatures, etc. The function to sign a Jar file with the NetPhantom System code signing certificate has been removed as new requirements for hardware-based code signing certificates are the new standard.
     
  • Support for Java 25 LTS
    All programs now support Java up to version 25 LTS except the NetPhantom Editor itself, being a 32-bit executable in need of a 32-bit JVM. As 32-bit architecture JVMs are not built anymore (Eclipse Temurin support has been dropped in 2026, so OpenJDK by BellSoft Liberica is now used instead), the Editor JVM supports a maximum of Java 21 LTS. The Server, Client, ClusterController, LicenseManager and NetPhantom Starter all supports Java up to version 25 LTS.
     
  • Eclipse 2026-06
    NetPhantom Quick Start is bundled with Eclipse 2026-06 version 4.40 that also includes the Java 21 update 10 Runtime Environment and supports Java 25. See New and Noteworthy for more information about Eclipse news and changes.
    Please note that NetPhantom QuickStart ships with all native Java VM's as well as the Eclipse version!
     
  • Support for Eclipse Dark theme
    The Dark mode or Dark theme in Eclipse is now supported by the REXX Editors and the NetPhantom Console.
     
  • Native NetPhantom Starter for Windows and macOS with Java 25
    Native NetPhantom Starter SSL with Java 25 Update 4 is now available for Windows 64-bit on Intel/AMD ("x86-64") or Windows on ARM64 ("aarch64") as well as for macOS for Apple Silicon (ARM64 a.k.a."aarch64") or Intel/AMD ("x86-64").
    Download the installers of NetPhantom Starter with SSL and Java 25:  
  • Support for Windows Server 2025 (Intel/AMD/x86-64 andARM64/aarch64)
    Support is now added for Windows Server 2025 on Intel/AMD/x86-64 and ARM64/aarch64 architectures for all NetPhantom programs, except NetPhantom Editor (only on Intel/AMD/x86-64 architecture).
     
  • Tabnine AI Code Platform in Eclipse
    NetPhantom Quick Start now optionally installs the Tabnine AI Code Platform in Eclipse when first launched. An internet connection is required for the setup to be successful and Tabnine to function.
     
  • IP Geolocation with IP2Location
    NetPhantom Server now includes built-in IP geolocation, allowing applications to resolve client IP addresses to geographic locations such as country, region, city, ZIP code, coordinates and timezone. This enables security features such as detection of connections from unexpected or unauthorized locations, geo-based access policies, and audit logging enriched with location data. The service supports both IPv4 and IPv6, performs automatic monthly database updates, and operates without server restarts (down-time). Configuration and monitoring is in the Web Server window of the Server Aministration program in the NetPhantom Server (and the Editor).
     
  • Support for SNTP to syncronize time reliably NetPhantom, with external time source(s) as NTP server(s)
    The implementation is SNTP (Simple NTP Server), and is now available in the NetPhantom Server as well as NetPhantom License Manager to keep a stable time source, we recommend UTC or GMT time zone. Configure it using the ServerAdmin for NetPhantom Server or directly in the license.ini for the License Manager, also used for load balancing.
     
  • New API to parse Markdown Strings to documents that can be rendered as HTML
    This new API is included in NetPhantom using the Java classes co.mindus.utils.TextUtil and co.mindus.utils.SyntaxHighlighter. Markdown is a format that is very common on e.g. GitHub today, and most LLM's has native support for it.
    NetPhantom Quick Start comes with a new sample "markdown" written in Java using the NetPhantom framework described above to demonstrate the 102 combinations of CSS styles for styling the Markdown and Syntax Highlighting that can be used to produce HTML documents.
     
  • Integration with JSoup - the Java library of choice to process HTML
    Code in Java on the Server side with the JSoup API included in NetPhantom Server like described on the web pages of JSoup. The current version of JSoup is 1.23.1. See the API Reference for more information.
     
  • Enhanced drawing of scaled images
    Up- or downscaled images are not drawn in best possible rendering.
     
  • Updated Linux scripts and Systemd files for running NetPhantom programs
    NetPhantom now includes new scripts and Systemd files that can be used on any modern Linux platform supporting Systemd: basically, almost all mainstream enterprise and desktop distros today are Systemd-based.
     
  • Updated Windows scripts and Windows Service installer for running NetPhantom programs
    NetPhantom now includes new scripts and an updates Windows Service installer. Existing installations must uninstall the service(s) and reinstall them with the new Windows Service installer.
     
  • Updated OpenJDK (Eclipse Temurin) versions for Java 8, 17, 21 and 25: all LTS versions.
    You must install the updated NetPhantom Quick Start to get these new versions as the patch files do not include them (JRE = Java Runtime Environment, JDK = Java Development Kit):
    • JRE 8 update 502, 64-bit -- (only for Windows x64 version)
    • JRE 17 update 20, 64-bit
    • JDK 21 update 12, 32-bit by BellSoft.
    • JRE 21 update 11, JustJ 64-bit, shipped with Eclipse, it gets updated with Eclipse Check for Updates and new version can be installed by installing new software in Eclipse.
    • JRE 25 update 4, 64-bit.
     
  • Updated Jar file versions
    The installer and the patch files include these updated Jar files:
    • NetRexx updated to 5.10-GA with support for Java 8 to 25.
    • BouncyCastle Jars 1.85 (bcprov.jar, bcpkix.jar and bcutil.jar),
    • Jose4J updated to version 0.9.6.
     
Important updates

Complex environment of updates of software is required to have a safe environment. This may require you to maintain Java and NetPhantom environments at required levels.

Many updates are requires to NetPhantom as well as other ver important parts of the Operating System and its firmware, we cannot emphaize the importance of these updates.

Previous versions

The links below indicates news implemented in the respective version:

 
Previous fixes: