What's new in FreeBASIC 1.20.4
 
The user-visible compiler, runtime, graphics, sound, target, and package work completed since the 1.20.2 development baseline.

Compiler and runtime
  • Added compiler and runtime paths for NuttX RISC-V, RISC OS, AROS x86-64/ARM/m68k, Windows CE ARM/MIPS, and four Linux MIPS ABI and endian combinations.
  • Added an isolated ANSI filesystem and older CRT compatibility path for Windows 95, 98, and ME. A Windows 95 OSR2 i486 guest passed the native compiler smoke, all 37 fbctest executables, and 651 unattended examples.
  • Corrected cross-target WSTRING parsing, constants, file I/O, and conversion when the compiler host and target use different wchar widths.
  • Added portable fbcom.bi status and line control for ports opened with Open Com.
  • Completed or corrected OPEN TCP SERVER, bounded TCP ACCEPT, EOF/EOC separation, socket declarations, REDIM lookahead, packed data, Win32 stack probing, DOS input, and many platform ABI paths.

Graphics
  • gfxlib2 remains the default and adds touch helpers, Getxpad controller polling, new platform backends, and runtime-selected SSE2 or NEON pixel operations.
  • gfxlib3 is a new opt-in render-threaded GPU runtime for Windows, Linux/X11, and Android. It uses Vulkan with OpenGL fallback on desktop, OpenGL ES on Android, and a headless reference backend.
  • gfxlib3 implements the normal FreeBASIC and QB graphics surface and adds GPU-resident surfaces, mapping and transfer, scaled and rotated blits, Mode 7 projection, render-thread callbacks, resizable-screen events, and checked PNG loading and saving.
  • Historical SCREEN modes 3 through 6 are now implemented by gfxlib3. The Screen Reference lists all QB mode numbers and the runtime boundary.

Sound
  • sfxlib covers generated sound, PLAY strings, short effects, music, MIDI, device selection, and capture. The generated manual contains the complete command forms.
  • A bounded 32-voice FM synthesizer supplies all General MIDI program families, common channel controls, pitch bend, sustain, and percussion when native MIDI is unavailable.
  • Optional headers add raw float output, final-output WAV capture, underrun counters, sample-rate queries, and whole-mix ping-pong echo.
  • Mixer, FM, echo, buffer conversion, and diagnostics now use block processing and runtime-selected x86 or ARM SIMD where the CPU supports it.

Packages and qualification
  • Current package flows cover selected Debian, Ubuntu, Raspbian, Alpine/postmarketOS, rpm-based Linux, BSD, Haiku, illumos, Cygwin, Windows, DOS, macOS, JavaScript, Android, Wii, Xbox, and NuttX targets.
  • Strict GCC and Clang builds, Cppcheck, Clang-Tidy, fblint, fbctests, Exampleageddon, package installation tests, and platform smokes now cover much more of the first-party source tree.
  • More than 700 examples received portability, ownership, bounds, callback, and error-handling work while intentional negative tests were preserved.

Experimental boundaries
  • gfxlib3 is opt-in and currently windowed only on Windows, Linux/X11, and Android. The other targets continue to use gfxlib2.
  • The AROS ARM compiler components are qualified individually, but its nested fbc-to-GCC driver path remains limited.
  • Windows CE is qualified through ROM-free cross-build and static checks unless a suitable licensed image is supplied.
  • Linux MIPS is retained as a compiler and runtime qualification target rather than a complete primary release package.
  • Hardware-dependent graphics, serial, controller, audio, and firmware paths still require the named hardware, SDK, ROM, or legal console firmware.

See also