Nonpareil II status and plans

[brouhaha]

It's taken a surprising amount of time to debug the Nut simulation code in Nonpareil II, but since it is a total rewrite, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I have the 16C working. I haven't yet tested too throroughly, so there may still be some bugs, but the basic functionality seeks to work OK. Usually if a microinstruction is simulated incorrectly, it results in fairly obvious failures in the simulated calculator.

The HP-25 already worked, though with only the raster graphics from the original Nonpareil. I still need to create SVG graphics for it. (Before anyone volunteers any SVG files, I should mention that I have fairly specific requirements that most existing SVG models do not meet. While I'd welcome assistance, if anyoen does want to help we should talk first.)

Saving and restoring the calculator state in not yet implemented, so the calculators always start up in the same state as a physical calculator that has just been turned on after replacing the batteries. In other words, currently the 16C will always start up in the powered-off state, and the ON button must be pressed to get to "Pr Error".

Obviously in future versions I intend to have more models supported, scalable graphics, and state save and reload. That's why I only call this a preview release. I may put in an expiration date, because I'll want people to try newer previews rather than using this one indefinitely.

I plan to make a freely distributable installer for 64-bit Windows available in the next few days for anyone who cares to try it out. It will run on Windows 10, probably 11, and maybe 7 or 8. I only test the Windows builds on Windows 10. While my build system can produce a 32-bit Windows build, I don't currently plan to distribute one.

Reminders:
1. Nonpareil II is NOT open-source or free-software. That may come later, though I don't guarantee it.
2. Nonpareil II is a currently a program for desktop and laptop computers, not phones and tablets.

Once Nonpareil II reaches a state that is fairly stable and reasonably feature-complete, I will put it in the Apple and Microsoft stores.

Plans for Linux sales are not yet determined, because of the logistics involved in supporting various Linux distributions. I develop on Fedora, so that one is relatively easy. I'm not a huge fan of Docker, Flatpak, Snap, or AppImage, but I may have to consider those.