After months of work, by many contributors, we’re delighted to announce the release of Mu 1.1.0 beta 2. This is the version we recommend you use, and you should update to this version via our official installers that you can download from here.

The full list of updates can be found in our CHANGELOG. Of course, this being a beta release, we expect there to be bugs. Please don’t hesitate to give feedback and report any problems you may find.

We’ll be making further beta releases as this past year’s efforts come together, and we continue to develop new features, fix bugs and enhance Mu. You are most welcome to contribute via our GitHub repository. All our previous releases are available via GitHub.

I want to make special mention and celebrate the work of:

  • Long time Mu contributor Tim Golden who (foolishly?) offered to help with Mu’s handling of Python packages. His epic and Herculean efforts ensure Mu uses Pythonic virtual environments for package management. Thank you for this outstanding contribution Tim.
  • University lecturer Martin Dybdal has made many numerous changes to Mu. The editor is vastly improved by Martin’s fearless quest to improve all aspects of the code base. He has also been the driving force behind the new ESP mode that he uses to teach his students about ESP based MicroPython wrist-watches. Tak for al din hjælp Martin.
  • Carlos Pereira Atencio of the MicroBit Foundation has been a formidable and talented contributor to Mu from the very beginning. Without Carlos’s exceptional work, touching all aspects of Mu, our efforts would be significantly impaired. As an embedded engineer his MicroPython related insights have been invaluable and it is Carlos who has ensured Mu works with the super-duper version 2 of the MicroBit. Muchas gracias Carlos.
  • The ever mysterious Zander Brown (Mu’s answer to The Stig) continues to contribute help and support to our users via our online discussion forum. As a student himself he knows how important it is to get the right sort of help, and Zander is ever patient, polite and positive in his mentorship role. Thank you Zander for making Mu’s online presence such a positive and collaborative space.
  • Finally, the Pythonic force-of-nature that is Tiago Montes has, through his magnificent work on PUP, made packaging Mu a joy. As those who know about packaging software will tell you, this is an incredible achievement and means we can cut a newly packaged release within minutes, rather than hours (as was before). Tiago’s infectious postivity, enthusiasm and humour have sustained many of us over the course of the recent efforts on Mu. Obrigado por um trabalho tão incrível Tiago. :-)


Finally, what happened to the beta 1 release..?

It was essentially a dress rehearsal and bug “shake down” that took place at the beginning of February. We learned a lot (and fixed many bugs) as a result of that beta, but it wasn’t ever ready for public view.

Many thanks to those who continue to offer support to Mu. Many thanks to those who teach with Mu - you’re helping the engineers and developers of tomorrow find their feet and flourish. Many thanks to those beginners who, despite how intimidating it must feel, engage with us and help us to improve Mu ~ you are especially welcome here.