OpenMPT 1.27.00.54 1.27.00.55 is compiled as a UNICODE application. This means, OpenMPT now finally uses the native Windows API which has been standard since Windows NT4 (released 1996). It has been a major effort by both Saga Musix and me over the past couple of years to modernize the code base and make it actually compile with the default settings and the "modern" native Unicode API.
Note: This does not yet mean that text in modules is Unicode. This still remains future work. In fact, OpenMPT 1.27.00.54 1.27.00.55 should behave exactly as 1.27.00.53 did. However, longer term this allows us to get rid of various hacks in the source code (like the hacked support for file names not supported by the currently active user locale, which works without any hack whatsoever at all with the Unicode API). Additionally, this transition allows for easier introduction of actual Unicode text strings in modules (which would finally make it possible to sensibly share modules made with e.g. Russian and Japanese text without having complete garbage text on the system with the respective other language setting). However, any such major conversion might introduce bugs in corner cases that we were not able to spot yet. Thus please report any bugs that were introduced in 1.27.00.54 r8518 1.27.00.55 r8531 in particular compared to 1.27.00.53 r8514.
See bug reports https://bugs.openmpt.org/view.php?id=164 and https://bugs.openmpt.org/view.php?id=570 .
Test builds can, as always, be found at the usual place at https://builds.openmpt.org/ .
OpenMPT 1.27.00.54 did not behave properly when saving modules. Please do NOT test 1.27.00.54 any more, but rather test the latest 1.27.00.55 / r8531 (or any later version).
Corresponding bug report: https://bugs.openmpt.org/view.php?id=988 .
Updated version number in original post and title.