Scratch
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Scratch 1.4 Release Candidate
Table of contents
- 1. Download
- 2. Bug Reports
- 3. Scratch 1.4 Release Notes
- 3.1.1. Support for smaller screens
- 3.1.2. Three display modes
- 3.1.3. New menubar
- 3.1.4. Smaller sprite thumbnails
- 3.1.5. Camera
- 3.1.6. Single click to run
- 3.1.7. Click and hold
- 3.1.8. Sticky comments
- 3.1.9. Your "Scratch Projects" folder
- 4. New and Revised Blocks
- 4.1.1. Keyboard input
- 4.1.2. String operations
- 4.1.3. New list block
- 4.1.4. LEGO® WeDoTM Support
- 4.1.5. Other changes to the blocks
- 5. Revised Support Materials
- 6. Translating Scratch
- 7. Networked Installation
UPDATE:
The official release of Scratch 1.4 is now available. If you previously installed the Release Candidate version, please download and install the official release version.
Scratch 1.4 Release Candidate Page
A preliminary version of Scratch 1.4 (officially known as "Scratch 1.4 Release Candidate") is now available.
The final version of Scratch 1.4 is expected at the end of June. It will include improvements to the sample projects, updated translations, and fixes to any major bugs that show up during testing.
If you try this preliminary version, you should update to the final version when it becomes available.
Warning: There may still be a few bugs in this version. We
recommend that you continue to use Scratch 1.3.1 for your important
Scratch work until the final release of Scratch 1.4.
Download
UPDATE 7/2/09:
The Download links for the 1.4 release candidate have been removed from this page. Please install the official release version of Scratch 1.4.
Bug Reports
If you find a glitch in the release candidate, give us as much information about it as you can! Tell us:
- the version of Windows or Mac OS you are using
- a detailed description of the problem
- the exact steps you took to make it happen
- what you see on the screen when the error happens
The more details you give us, the quicker we can find the bug and "squash" it. Please send bug reports to help@scratch.mit.edu.
Scratch 1.4 Release Notes
Support for smaller screens
The improved Scratch 1.4 User Interface allows Scratch software to run on computers with screens as small as 800x480.Three display modes
Scratch 1.4 has a new small-stage display mode which allows Scratch to run on smaller screens and also expands the Scripts area. The view mode buttons at the top-right of the Scratch window allow you to switch between three viewing modes: small-stage mode, large-stage mode, and presentation mode.New menubar
Scratch now uses a menubar with File, Edit, Share, and Help options. The menubar also has icons for Language, Save, and Share.
Smaller sprite thumbnails
To save screen space, the sprite thumbnails are smaller and no longer show the number of costumes and scripts in that sprite. You can see the number of scripts as a pop-up if you hover the cursor over a sprite thumbnail.
Camera
If your computer has a built-in or USB webcam, the "Camera" button
in the Costumes tab allows you to quickly snap a photo or a
sequence of photos. 
Single click to run
To run a block or script, just click on it. (You can still double-click if you prefer.)To see the value returned by a reporter block, just click on it. (This only works if the reporter block is not embedded in another block.)
Click and hold
As an alternative to the right mouse button, you can click and hold on an object (without moving the cursor) to get its menu. (The feature was added to support a touch-screen or stylus, but is also an easy way for Mac users to get the right-button menu.)
Sticky comments
A comment can now be "stuck" to a block so that, as you move stacks of blocks around, the comment remains attached.Your "Scratch Projects" folder
The default location for saving projects has changed to a folder called "Scratch Projects" located in your home documents folder. Sample projects are now stored in a separate folder called "Examples." You can easily access either folder via shortcut buttons when you click Open or Save As on the File menu.New and Revised Blocks
Keyboard input
- The
block (in the Sensing category) allows you to ask a person a question and have them type in a response. The keyboard input is saved in the 
block.
String operations
The Numbers category has been renamed to "Operators" because it now contains blocks for manipulating strings.
- The
block combines two strings (letters or other characters).
- The
block reports the letter of at the specified position in the string.
- The
block reports the length of a string.
block can be used to find out if a list contains a particular word or number.
LEGO® WeDoTM Support
Scratch can now interface to the LEGO® Education WeDo™ robotics kit. The "Show Motor Blocks" command in the Edit menu makes five motor blocks appear in the "Motion" category:
turns the motor on for the specified number of seconds.
-
turns the motor on.
-
turns the motor off.
-
turns the motor on at the given power level (0-100).
-
sets or reverses the motor direction.
Other changes to the blocks
The comparison blocks now allow you to type strings into their arguments.
Blocks that refer to sprites (e.g. "distance to") now accept reporter
blocks, so you can now provide a string with the name of a sprite as input to these blocks..
The list reporter block has a small change. If a list consists entirely of single character entries then the list reporter concatenates those letters together without inserting any spaces. If any list entry consists of more than a single character, spaces are inserted between the list elements (useful for making a sentence from a list of words.)
Revised Support Materials
The Scratch 1.4 software download includes revised versions of the main Getting Started guide, the Scratch 1.4 Reference Guide, and help screens. You can click Help on the Scratch 1.4 menubar to view these resources.Translating Scratch
There is a new translation server for the Scratch interface and website. If you would like to contribute a translation, please visit: http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Translation/
You can now change the order of arguments in translated blocks. This allows for more natural translation word order.
Networked Installation
Features have been added to make it easier to configure Scratch for use in schools and other networked settings.- There are separate shortcuts on the open/save dialogs for user projects and sample projects
- The user's home folder can be set (e.g. to a folder on a network drive)
- Setting "visible drives" now prevents users from navigating up the directory hierarchy
- Sharing can be disabled
- Scratch can be configured to upload projects through a web proxy
See the Networked Installation page for details.
Looking for Your Old Scratch Projects?
Q: Where are my old Scratch projects?
A: They are where you previously saved them. If you're not sure where you saved your projects, look in the "Projects" folder in the Scratch folder.Q: Where is the Scratch folder?
A: On Windows, it is
usually in the "Program Files" folder on your C: drive.
On Mac OS,
it is usually in the Applications folder with the name of the version
(e.g., "Scratch 1.3" folder).
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