# FreeCAD 0.20 released

Please welcome the new release of FreeCAD, version **0.20**! Installers and images available for Windows, MacOS and Linux on the [FreeCAD website](https://freecad.org/downloads.php) and on [GitHub](https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/releases/tag/0.20).



![different screenshots of recent works made by FreeCAD users](../../images/2022/freecad-020-1.png)



This version is very much a continuation of the work done on the **0.19** version. It is fully backwards-compatible with it, which means the files you produce with 0.20 are still openable with 0.19 (without some new features, such as tapered holes). Your settings, configurations and add-ons will be kept when you upgrade from 0.19 to 0.20 (Add-ons might [need to be moved](https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Release_notes_0.20#Core) on Linux)

The FreeCAD development team decided to issue this release as a milestone to have a clean path to undertake some bigger changes forward, namely merging [big works](https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/pull/4752) done to attack the famous toponaming problem, which is undoubtedly FreeCAD's number one bug. So it can be considered as a kind of "stable release". But that doesn't mean it's not packed with new stuff!

Below is a short overview of some of the most interesting points. Check the full [release notes](https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Release_notes_0.20) for more!

* **Tree view improvements**: The Tree and Properties views have seen a number of new features and fixes. With a right-button click, you can now add and remove custom properties, or select group contents or dependent objects.
* **Multiple edit modes implementation**: Although FreeCAD supported multiple edit modes since the start, it was never used a lot. Now, you can choose which edit mode to use, which one is the default one, and workbenches are progressively implementing support for it too.
* A shiny new **section cut tool** allows you to make gorgeous, solid-based section views of your models.
* The **add-ons manager** has been almost completely recoded, and shows a much better preview of add-ons. It also allows to search and bulk-update your addons. A new structure now also allows addons to provide preference packs, which can set many FreeCAD preferences at once. This also allows you to easily export your preferences settings.
* The **documentation system** of FreeCAD has also been completely recoded. Although it is still based on the FreeCAD wiki, it prepares the way for a possible migration to a markdown-based system. It also gives much more flexibility, such as offering you to choose between an online or offline version, or to use a specific translated version of the documentation.
* An improved **BIM-to-2D** workflow, as I [documented earlier](2022-001-freecad-january), with support for hatches, section marks, and much more.
* Support for **2D elements in IFC files**. This is done in collaboration with [BlenderBIM](https://blenderbim.org) devs, I still need to blog about it ;)
* Many **FEM workbench improvements**, such as improved support for the Z88 solver and finer tuning of meshing algorithm, as well as a series of new constraints types.
* Many, many **PartDesign improvements**: New tools, new workflows, threaded holes, subtractive/additive lofts, and much more...
* Many new **Sketcher tools** such as rounded rectangle, centered rectangle, finer curve controls, split tool and more.
* The **Spreadsheet workbench** also gained many interesting tools to work with groups of cell, and the ability to pilot enum (drop-down) properties from a spreadsheet.
* The **TechDraw workbench** gained more than 30 new tools to place different kinds of symbols and features on your pages, and more convenient tools to manage, move and copy views on different pages.
* We gained the [freecad.org](https://freecad.org) internet domain, which was generously gifted to FreeCAD by the KiCAD team. So now everything works on both [freecad.org](https://freecad.org) and [freecadweb.org](https://freecadweb.org) domains. The latter is still the default, but we'll invert that soon.
* FreeCAD now has a proper [non-profit association](https://github.com/FreeCAD/FPA) that gives the project an official juridical existence, and allows it to manage money. More to come soon!

There is much more than that, check the full [release notes](https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Release_notes_0.20) to know it all!

I hope you'll be as happy as we are with this new version! Go there and [grab yours](https://freecad.org/downloads.php)!



![different screenshots of recent works made by FreeCAD users](../../images/2022/freecad-020-2.png)



As always, thanks to everybody who keeps sponsoring me on [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/yorikvanhavre), [Liberapay](https://liberapay.com/yorik) or [GitHub](https://github.com/sponsors/yorikvanhavre)! Sorry for the lack of posting and feedback here recently, admin tasks have taken more and more time. I miss BIM coding a lot, though, now that many things are out of the way I'll do my best to get back to it and keep you guys fed with news ;)

Cheers

Yorik