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SMD and SMD Player
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SMD enhancements in 2.1 release 05-NOV-01

- 2.1 is our first stable non-beta release.
- more simulabs, though core software has not changed.
- removed "beta test" window upon launching application.
- added additional movies to SMD Player.
- NEXT RELEASE: will separate the application installers from the movies
  which are rather large.  movies make up all but 1.2M of this download.

SMD enhancements in 2.1b release 21-FEB-01

- included an error message which appears when the system temperature
  becomes unrealistic (T > 100, which corresponds to 11900K for argon 
  in our lennard-jones model)

SMD enhancements in 2.0b release 7-FEB-01

- released online for public beta
- several various bug fixes.
- error reporting facility.
- 60 day license (which does not expire)
- upgraded movie making feature to include saving of energy variables
- ability to control the magnification of the visualization window in
  order to more clearly see certain features such as subsets of the
  microscopic system, and to see how some features depend on the scale
  of observation
- additional parameters (such as number density, particle interaction
  parameters, and adding a piston) and averaged values and graphs of key
  variables ``hidden'' from the interface in order to encourage
  ease-of-use
- ability to control the sampling time of updates of the molecular
  motion in order to ``speed up'' the graphics display on slower
  computers
- ``help balloons'' on every interface control
- a menu of pre-defined starting conditions, corresponding to specific
  `simulabs' in the curriculum guides.

SMD enhancements in 1.0a release 14-AUG-00

- several bug fixes.
- ability to display both ``computer units'' of variables and ``real
  units''
- extensive particle editing facility which includes removing, adding,
  or tracking selected particles for added student control.
- ability to view the paths of particles, providing students with visual
  insight into equilibrium and phase changes, and how the molecules,
  even at the triple point, move differently depending on whether they
  are in the solid, liquid, or gas states.
- ability to use different colors and other modes of display to isolate
  features of interest (such as the magnitude of the microscopic or
  macroscopic quantities of interest)
- multiple screen coloring modes that can facilitate classroom
  projection
- an extensive set of real-time graphs including temperature, pressure,
  volume, kinetic energy, and potential energy versus time
- ability to take a snapshot of any graph or visualization window in
  real-time which can then be imported into a ``snapshot gallery'' that
  can later be saved to individual files or printed for further analysis
  or included in student reports
- ability to export real-time data for chosen parameters to a file for
  detailed analysis
- a powerful movie-making feature that allows one to create
  demonstration movies along with annotation that can be played in our
  SMD Player application

Prior to the 1.0a release, SMD and other programs from the VMDL have
been under development since May 1996.  Research and development of
prototypes had been under development from 1990.  All work is supported
through grants from NSF.

For more information, send mail to vmdl@polymer.bu.edu