[Lazarus] Lazarus Release Candidate 1 of 4.0

[Mattias Gaertner]

The Lazarus team is glad to announce the first release candidate of 
Lazarus 4.0.

This release was built with FPC 3.2.2.

Here is the list of changes for Lazarus and Free Pascal:
http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Lazarus_4.0_release_notes
http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/User_Changes_3.2.2

Here is the list of fixes for Lazarus 4.x:
https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/lazarus/lazarus/-/commits/fixes_4/

The release is available for download on SourceForge:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lazarus/files/

Choose your CPU, OS, distro and then the "Lazarus 4.0RC1" directory.

Checksums for the SourceForge files:
https://www.lazarus-ide.org/index.php?page=checksums#4_0RC1

Minimum requirements:

Windows:
   2k, 32 or 64bit, Qt, Qt5, Qt6 (64bit only)

FreeBSD/Linux:
   gtk 2.24 for gtk2, qt4.5 for qt, qt5.6 for qt5, Qt6.2 for qt6, 32 or 
64bit.

Mac OS X:
   Cocoa (64bit) 10.12, Carbon (32bit) 10.5 to 10.14, Qt and Qt5 (32 or 
64bit), Qt6 (64bit only).

The gitlab page:
https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/lazarus/lazarus/-/tree/lazarus_4_0_RC_1

For people who are blocked by SF, the Lazarus releases from SourceForge
are mirrored at:
https://download.lazarus-ide.org/
ftp://ftp.freepascal.org/pub/lazarus/releases/

== Why should everybody (including you) test the release candidate? ==

In the past weeks the Lazarus team has stabilized the 4.0 fixes branch.
The resulting 4.0RC1 is now stable enough to be used by any one for
test purposes.

While we have tested those ourselves, there may still be problems
that only occur with very specific configurations or one project in a
million.

Yes, it may be that you are the only person with a project, that will
not work in the new IDE. So if you do not test, we can not fix it.

Please do not wait for the final release, in order to test. It may be
too late. Once the release is out we will have to be more selective
about which fixes can be merged for further 3.x releases. So it may be,
that we can not merge the fix you require. And then you will miss out
on all the new features.

== How to test ==

Download and install the 4.0 RC1.
- On Windows you can install as a 2ndary install, that will not affect
   your current install:

http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Multiple_Lazarus#Installation_of_multiple_Lazarus
- On other platforms, if you install to a new location you need to use
--primary-config-path

In either case you should make backups. (including your primary config)

Open your project in the current Lazarus (4.0), and use "Publish
Project" from the project menu. This creates a clean copy of your
project.

You can then open that copy in the RC1. Please test:
- If you can edit forms in the designer
    - rename components / change properties in Object inspector / Add
      new events
    - Add components to form / Move components on form
    - Frames, if you use them
- If you can navigate the source code (e.g. jump to implementation)
- Auto completion in source code
- Compile, debug and run
- Anything else you use in your daily work


Mattias