-v1.7.1 is a stable minor release which adds several bugfixes
-and improvements in security, forward-compatibility,
-packaging, usability, and portability. See the NEWS file [2]
-for details.
+v1.8.0β is the beta release of major new improvements, including fast
+and fault-tolerant downloads and better Windows support. See the NEWS
+file [2] for details. If no regressions or critical bugs are
+discovered in this 1.8.0β version then we will release a functionally
+identical 1.8.0 final version on approximately August 15, 2010.