ANN: New WinPython with Python 2.7.6 and 3.3.3 (32/64bit)

[Pierre Raybaut]

Hi all,

I am pleased to announce that four new versions of WinPython have been released yesterday with Python 2.7.6 and 3.3.3, 32 and 64 bits. Many packages have been added or upgraded (Spyder 2.2.5 for Python 2, Spyder 2.3.0beta2 for Python 3, SciPy 0.13.2, NumPy MKL 1.8.0, IPython 1.0, etc. -- see the complete changelog: https://sourceforge.net/p/winpython/wiki/ChangeLog_27/).

Special thanks to Christoph Gohlke for building most of the binary packages bundled in WinPython. 

WinPython is a free open-source portable distribution of Python for Windows, designed for scientists: http://winpython.sourceforge.net/.

It is a full-featured Python-based scientific environment:
  * Designed for scientists (thanks to the integrated libraries NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, guiqwt, etc.:
    * Regular *scientific users*: interactive data processing and visualization using Python with Spyder
    * *Advanced scientific users and software developers*: Python applications development with Spyder, version control with Mercurial and other development tools (like gettext)
  * *Portable*: preconfigured, it should run out of the box on any machine under Windows (without any installation requirements) and the folder containing WinPython can be moved to any location (local, network or removable drive)
  * *Flexible*: one can install (or should I write "use" as it's portable) as many WinPython versions as necessary (like isolated and self-consistent environments), even if those versions are running different versions of Python (2.7, 3.x in the near future) or different architectures (32bit or 64bit) on the same machine
  * *Customizable*: using the integrated package manager (wppm, as WinPython Package Manager), it's possible to install, uninstall or upgrade Python packages (see https://sourceforge.net/p/winpython/wiki/WPPM/ for more details on supported package formats).

*WinPython is not an attempt to replace Python(x,y)*, this is just something different: more flexible, easier to maintain, movable and less invasive for the OS, but certainly less user-friendly, with less packages/contents and without any integration to Windows explorer [*].

[*] Actually there is an optional integration into Windows explorer, providing the same features as the official Python installer regarding file associations and context menu entry (this option may be activated through the WinPython Control Panel), and adding shortcuts to Windows Start menu.

Enjoy!

-Pierre

[Jim Passmore]

With the latest update of WinPython (3.3.3.0, 32 bit), I moved from Spyder 2.3.0dev6 to 2.3.0beta2.  One of the changes is the object inspector is called with a ctrl-I, with options to automatically display, set in 'Preferences.'  The inspector seems to work on the console, in both modes, but I'm getting no response to items in the editor.  Looking into things a bit,
* the editor prefs have a message about the rope module not being installed (therefore a few features won't be available). 
* "Help/Optional dependencies..." shows pep8, pyflakes, and rope as not installed.

As a longshot (since source on Bitbucket shows separate Py2 and Py3 versions for these 3 packages)  I tried downloading the latest packages from PyPi and installing with the WinPython control panel.  Spyder no longer lists pep8 and pyflakes as missing (haven't tested functionality!), but installing rope causes Spyder to crash immediately after showing the splash screen.

Is there a way to get these installed so Spyder works?

Thanks,
Jim