We are happy to announce the release of Scratch 1.3.  This version includes expanded international language capabilities, as well as several new features, such as lists and comments. Many of the additions are based on suggestions by Scratch community members; other suggestions from the community are high on our "wish list" for future releases.

Scratch 1.3 comes with new sample projects that illustrate how to use the new features. Also included in this release are an updated Getting Started guide and Reference guide.

Note: Scratch projects saved with Scratch 1.3 cannot be opened with earlier versions of Scratch.
Scratch 1.3 for Windows OS requires Windows XP or Vista;
Scratch 1.3 for Mac OS requires 10.4 or higher.

Internationalization and Localization

Improved Interface Translation

Scratch now launches in the default language of your operating system until a different language has been chosen through the 'Languages' menu.  In addition to the new non-Western character set display support, Scratch interface translation has also been automated to use an online translation system called Pootle.  Translations can be added or improved at any time, and the latest set of translations will be available for download from the Scratch website and updated periodically.

If you would like to contribute a Scratch translation, or edit or add to an existing Scratch translation, please follow the instructions on the Translating Scratch page.

Right to Left Interface Support

The blocks in the Scratch interface now support right-to-left layout and evaluation for right-to-left languages.

New Blocks

Below are brief descriptions of the new and revised blocks. To learn more, please see the Help screens and the Reference Guide.

Variables and Strings

The blocks to set and change the values of variables have changed.  There are now single blocks that have drop-down menus which let you choose between the names of all of your variables.  Variables can now also hold strings (letters, words, phrases, and other characters).

Lists

It is now possible to store and manipulate lists of data in Scratch. Lists can store numerical as well as string values. The list blocks are located in the 'Variables' category, and become available after you click . 

Scratch 1.3 comes with sample projects that demonstrate how to use the list blocks. To learn more about lists, please see the Help screens and the Scratch 1.3 Reference Guide.

		To make and delete a list
		Reports all the values on the list as a single string (e.g., 'John Evelyn Mitchel Natalie').  Click the checkbox to indicate whether to show a monitor for the lists on the stage.
		List monitors, like variable monitors, show all the values in a given list.  Unlike variable monitors, you can type directly into a list monitor.  You can add items to the list by clicking on the '+' button on the bottom left.  You can also resize the monitor from the bottom righthand corner. Note:  Right-click (Mac: Ctrl+click) on a list monitor and choose 'export' to save a list as a plain .txt file.  You can also choose to 'import' any saved plain .txt files with values on separate lines.
		Adds an item to the end of the list.
		Deletes all of the items in a list.
		Inserts an item into the given index in a list.
		Replaces a value at a given index in the list with the given value.
		Returns the value of the given index in the list.
		Returns the number of items on the list

Interface Improvements

Comments

Paint Editor Fonts

You can now access all of your system's fonts in the paint editor. This allows you to type in fonts with character sets from other languages, as well as using your favorite font. If you edit the text in a costume saved with an older version of Scratch, the font will change to one of your system fonts. Different fonts are available on different systems. If you download a project created on another system and edit a costume or background containing text, the font may switch to a font that is available on your system. Unedited costumes or backgrounds display with the fonts from the system on which they were created.

Automatically Wrapping Blocks

Known Bugs and Limitations

• Scratch projects saved with Scratch 1.3 cannot be opened with earlier versions of Scratch.
• List monitors do not yet appear in the Scratch web player.
  
• The sprite, costume, and sound names do not change when you switch languages. If you click the "New" button, the new project will use the current language to name the sprite, costumes, and sounds.
• The paint editor now uses system fonts. That was necessary to support non-Western languages. Costumes created with older versions of Scratch still display with the old fonts, but if you edit the text it will switch to a system font.
  
• In right-to-left languages such as Hebrew and Arabic, trailing punctuation marks may appear in the wrong place.
  
• Some languages/fonts will not appear in the Player until those fonts are installed in the Java Plugin
  
• Computer OS: Windows
  • Requires Windows XP or Vista
    
  • Cannot type in some Indic languages. Work around: type into an external text editor and paste the text into Scratch.
  • Punctuation marks at the end of RTL text (e.g. Hebrew) may appear in the wrong place
  • Some fonts in the paint editor font menu do not work (e.g. Webdings)
    
• Computer OS: Mac OSX
  • Requires Mac OS 10.4 or later
    
  • When editing mixed RTL/LTR text, the highlight and cursor are sometimes incorrect