In the world according to Gimp, Linux rules. The Linux folks are able to simply get Gimp from git, compile and run with it. Well, why should they have all the fun? I decided that we can all join the party.

In that spirit, I am releasing an experimental Gimp 2.9 build! The build is available at the usual place:
http://www.partha.com

I didn't turn off the console window because this is an experimental release. I will do so when it's a little more mature.

Enjoy,
Partha

Will there be a 32bit version? I don't have 64bit.

Is this a portable version

No.

Well,

I will have a 32-bit version uploaded as soon as I finish some test.

However, note that you are talking about 16-bit color with a 32-bit OS where you are limited to 3.25G RAM. That is not much for say an image from a D600 or a D800. You are going to bring the system to its knees in short order.

Gimp is moving towards high-end photo processing and 16-bit is a start. You are going to need at least 8G RAM for which you need a 64-bit OS. Note that PS CS6 no longer provides 32-bit Mac version for instance.

I'm getting this message at GIMP start-up:
Failed to parse tag cache: No such file or directory
babl-format.c:667 babl_format<>
babl_format<"cairo-ARGB32">: not found
'grep' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

2.9 seems to install correctly but fails to create User Profile folder. When I create .gimp-2.9 myself, all the installer puts in there - empty tool-options folder and 2 config files: pluginrc and themerc.
Win 7 64-bit. I uninstalled GIMP 2.8.2 before 2.9 installation.
How do I fix this?
Thank you,

K1TE

Windows users will surely appreciate your work. Thank you!
Now I will try to make the portable version for GNU/Linux, just for testing

OK, this is a consistent error which I am not getting but others are and clearly there is a big problem. So, please bear with me and I will solve it!

Thanks for your patience and sorry about the issue.

I think I have found the issue and fixed it. So check it out.

I also uploaded the 32-bit version of Gimp 2.9 and portable versions that you can install on an USB drive or otherwise. Please let me know if you have any problems.

Remember, this is still work in progress and so don't complain about speed etc. If you find a bug, run it by me before posting.

Thanks,
Partha

Hi Partha.
Thank you very much.
You can write a how to fix the bug with Babl?
I learn how alone to compile Gimp for Windows.

You can however write how switch off this console ?

MareroQ,

Yes, I will detail how to fix the bug. Basically Babl is now looking for format information in cairo.dll and friends who are located in the babl-0.1 library. You have to created an environment variable called BABL_PATH (see the source code) so that BABL can find the formats. This is all new for 2.9. I do this with the installer for both the regular version and the portable version.

The portable version is self contained. You need to run gimprun.exe which sets up the environment for itself before running Gimp. it also automatically takes care of moving from drive to drive.

Switching off the the console requires you to modify app/main.c so that the console window does not show up. That is about the easiest way to do it, though I currently don't recommend doing it.

MareQ
You can't simply minimize the console ?

Partha - thank you very much once again for the tips.

Of course you can - but I was very curious as to resolve before compilation ...

i think may be solved but may not be a bad idea, just because in a really experimental version a debug console is a needed part.

Maybe the good idea would be kept minimized as default and provide a provide way to direct the output where may be read and saved

Yes, we definitely need a console window for this alpha release.

I have had issues where I uninstalled my version of Gimp 2.9 only to realize that I still had a console window minimized!!

Is there a noticeable visual difference between 16-bit colors in GIMP 2.9 and the system that's currently used?

Gimp 2.8.x or less cannot handle 16-bit color and is restricted to 8-bit color. So each channel has 256 possibles shades whereas with 16-bit color, each channel has 65536 shades. This means that you have a huge number of color combination possible. Also, when you are applying curves you are not likely to see banding. So, yes there is a noticeable difference.

When I notice banding, it is quite an annoyance. That would be great to have in place.

So test it out and let me know if you have any issues.

May be a high price to pay...as a new computer with a lot of RAM

Till not so long ago 2GB ram was considered a lot.
But edit at 16bit a image from not too recent modern camera require a lot of ram (i have a dual-core with 8GB RAM and that seems barely sufficient for edit shoot from my Nikon D60..to edit slowly and with sounds of fans screaming in agony )
And i fear that to edit at 16 bit images from more modern reflex the double may be barely sufficient ... and that soon in photographic forums you will read more and more replies as

"Problem to edit ? How you may expect to have no problem to edit RAW working with with that poor old quad core with only 20GB ram ?"