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<article id="Introduction">
  <title>Introduction to WinMerge</title>

  <para>WinMerge is an <ulink url="https://opensource.org/">Open
  Source</ulink> differencing and merging tool for Windows. WinMerge can compare
  two or three folders and files, presenting differences in a visual text format
  that is easy to understand and handle.</para>

  <para>WinMerge is highly useful for determining what has changed between
  project versions, and then merging changes between versions. WinMerge can be
  used as an external differencing/merging tool or as a standalone
  application.</para>

  <para>In addition, WinMerge has many helpful supporting features that make
  comparing, synchronising, and merging as easy and useful as possible. Several
  programming languages and other file formats are syntax-highlighted.</para>

  <para>WinMerge is not a hex editor. WinMerge can show binary files contents
  and differences between them. But the information is meant for viewing only:
  editing binary files with WinMerge can break the files.</para>

  <para>The goal of WinMerge development is to make comparing, synchronizing,
  and merging folders and files easy and fast, while maintaining maximum
  reliability. Ease of use is of key importance for reducing errors.</para>
  
  <para>The latest version &WinMergeVersion; is
  considered a stable and reliable program to use.</para>

  <note>
    <para>WinMerge is not freeware (as many sites on the Web have stated):
    It is <ulink url="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html">GPL</ulink> licensed.</para>
    <para>We provide you with a good tool for free, so please honor your license agreement
    and submit improvements to us. We are happy to get help improving WinMerge, to
    the advantage of all WinMerge users.</para>
  </note>

  <section>
    <title>WinMerge versions<indexterm>
        <primary>WinMerge versions</primary>
      </indexterm></title>

    <para>There are two kind of versions available in the <ulink
    url="https://sourceforge.net/projects/winmerge/files/">downloads</ulink>
    page.</para>

    <section>
      <title><indexterm>
          <primary>stable WinMerge versions</primary>
        </indexterm>Stable versions</title>

      <para><ulink
      url="https://sourceforge.net/projects/winmerge/files/stable/">Stable
      versions</ulink> are recommended for most users. If you are unsure about
      what version to use, use the latest stable version. Stable versions have
      an even last number, for example, 2.14.0, 2.16.2 and 2.16.4.</para>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title><indexterm>
          <primary>beta WinMerge versions</primary>
        </indexterm>Beta versions</title>

      <para><ulink
      url="https://sourceforge.net/projects/winmerge/files/beta/">Beta
      versions</ulink> are for people who want to test latest features and
      improvements made after last stable version. Beta versions are not tested
      as extensively as stable versions and probably have some bugs. Beta
      versions have an odd last number, for example 2.16.3 and 2.16.5. Beta versions
      can be used in production, because they are not expected to have major
      bugs. But there is always a risk with using beta-level releases, so
      consider it carefully. We have tried to release a new stable series once a
      year, so it may be worth waiting for few months for the next stable
      release...</para>
    </section>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title><indexterm>
        <primary>WinMerge support</primary>

        <secondary>reporting bugs</secondary>
      </indexterm>Getting support and reporting bugs</title>

    <para>The <emphasis>Discussion forums</emphasis> are the fastest way to get help:</para>
    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <ulink url="https://github.com/WinMerge/winmerge/discussions">WinMerge discussions</ulink>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <ulink url="https://github.com/WinMerge/winimerge/discussions">Image Compare discussions</ulink>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <ulink url="https://github.com/WinMerge/website/discussions">Website discussions</ulink>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>If you find a bug, please submit it as a <ulink
    url="https://github.com/WinMerge/winmerge/issues">bug
    report</ulink>. Please attach as much information as you can: at a minimum,
    the version number of WinMerge that you are using. If you can, also attach a
    configuration log which, you can display by clicking <menuchoice>
        <guimenu>Help</guimenu>

        <guimenuitem>Configuration</guimenuitem>
      </menuchoice> in the WinMerge window. Good information in a bug report
    makes it more likely that your bug will be fixed quickly.</para>

    <important>
      <para>Include the version number in bug reports. You can check the version
      number by clicking <menuchoice>
          <guimenu>Help</guimenu>

          <guimenuitem>About WinMerge</guimenuitem>
        </menuchoice>.</para>
    </important>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title><indexterm>
        <primary>WinMerge development</primary>
      </indexterm>WinMerge source code and development</title>

    <para>WinMerge source code is available on our <ulink
    url="https://winmerge.org/source-code/">website</ulink> and from the
    <ulink url="https://github.com/winmerge/">GitHub</ulink> project pages.
    Anyone can download the sources, study them, and alter them.
    If you find (and fix) bugs, improve something, and so on, please submit your
    changes to us as patches or pull requests  and help improve this product!
    If you publish your altered version, you are
    required to publish the changes to source code too. This is what the <ulink
    url="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html">GPL</ulink> license is about:
    please respect it.</para>

    <para>WinMerge development work is done by people in their spare time. 
	Nobody gets paid for
    improving WinMerge. We try to fix bugs as we find them or when somebody
    reports them to us. We really try - we use WinMerge too. But there are
    absolutely no promises for new features. We always appreciate any help with
    WinMerge, be it testing, documenting, translating, or coding.</para>
  </section>
</article>
