Hi all!
For the past few weeks we've been working on an alternative UI for the Bitcoin client.
The goal is to create something that my mom could use and I believe we're getting there!
We feel that this is an important step towards mainstream acceptance of Bitcoin.
Technical details:
- based on 0.3.23, tracking changes as they come in
- UI is currently a .Net Windows Forms app. We have a native Mac and Win32 versions in the pipeline but for now we like to exploit the fast iteration of C# to find what works and what doesn't as quickly as possible.
- Native code (bitcoin and supporting libraries) is statically linked with a thin managed C++ wrapper.
- Private keys are encrypted with EVP_des_ede3_cbc with random IV and each wallet has a random salt.
- Other than the encryption, the wallet format is the same but for now our client will refuse to import unencrypted wallets.
- Import / export wallet to a simple JSON format. Import can merge in wallets encrypted with a different password (of course only if you have it).
I think it's a more suitable format for backups (including the possibility of printing it out! ) - RPC currently disabled
- Early support for one of the bitcoin: URL schemes (the one that goes bitcoin:/amount/address/note, we'll support the others too).
In case you're wondering - we're eating our dogfood and have moved our meager Bitcoin holdings into our client.
It certainly makes testing and debugging a little bit more exciting!
The catch is - we're closed source, at least for now. We feel that earning people's trust is about more than just dumping the source code.
Our source tree also has a lot of work in progress on cool features that we would like to be the first client to support.
Once we're ready to come out of beta, we'll re-evaluate this decision.
I am well aware of how well this will go down around here and I preemptively support your calls for my head on a spike.
So here are the rules:
- Don't run binaries from sources you don't trust, especially on a PC that has your Bitcoin wallet!
- Don't put any non-trivial amount of Bitcoins into beta software! (we do and it can be nerve wracking!)
- Even with the non-trivial amounts, back up your wallet frequently!
- Don't ever forget your password, they are not recoverable!
For the terminally curious, here it is:
http://allbitcoin.comSample the screenshots or run it in a VM - as far away from your wallet.dat as you can.
We would very much like to hear what you think about our progress so far!
- AllBitcoin