Version 3.0.0 introduces more user control of how the main window is displayed. You can turn on and off the title bar, display the large buttons on the right or switch to toolbar mode with icons on the top to maximize the usable width of the window. Extended mode which hides the User Name, Server and Bindings options. Turn on and off grid lines in the user list window. You can also customize the user list window icons and toolbar icons.

All of these changes still keep the most commonly used features at your finger tips by means of a single click of the mouse. No need to navigate clunky multi-stage menu options just send a comment to the other users.

Version 3.0.0 is now compliant with the Microsoft XP Themes User Interface.

Mac OSX - Traditional / Default mode

Mac OSX - Toolbar mode

Mac OSX - Toolbar mode / Shrunk

Mac OSX - Toolbar mode / Shrunk and Extended

Mac OSX - Toolbar mode / Compressed and Extended

• Voice communication with multiple people.
• Cross channel communications.
• Phantom users for listening in on other channels.
• User-to-user private conversations.
• Individual channels that can be created dynamically.
• Sub channels.
• Muted channels.
• Queued channels.
• Channel transmit time limits.
• Channel client limits.
• Channel feature filtering.
• Password protected server login and channels.
• Advanced channel control options and filters.
• Individual admin passwords for channels.
• Text-to-speech (TTS) voice generation.
• Key binding to execute special program functions, play wave files, send TTS messages.
• Separate phonetic spelling of user and channel names for proper TTS.
• Built in chat similar to IRC.
• Users can enter dynamic comments for all other users to see.
• User assigned names for server connections. No need to remember IP numbers.
• Wave file or TTS event notifications for program events.
• Remote administration of server features and current users.
• Remote administration of persistent server properties.
• Mute Microphone and Mute Sound with key binds for both.
• User adjustable sound effects.
• Persistent mute states for specific users on a given server.
• Persistent channel admin passwords.
• Persistent special effects including surround sound for users, channels, servers, global.
• Built in server browser.
• Ability to record and playback voice streams. Great for watching demos with associated voice comms.
• Voice activation or Press-to-talk transmission modes.
• Binds to change channels or cycle through all available channels.
• Multiple platform support for servers.
• Multiple platform support for clients.
• Servers are now ready and supported on 64bit platforms.
• The clients and servers do NOT contain any Ad Ware or Spy Ware features.
• Ability to restrict server admin features. Useful for hosting services.
• Server specified codec's to control voice quality and bandwidth usage.
• User customization of display modes.
• User customization of user list icons and toolbar icons.
• Clients will soon support *NIX platforms.
• Portable cross platform server.

Ventrilo uses a Client / Server architecture.

Microsoft Windows 9x / NT / 2000 / XP
Macintosh PowerPC OSX 10.3 or higher.

 

Microsoft Windows 9x / NT / 2000 / XP
Linux i386
FreeBSD i386
NetBSD i386
Solaris Sparc 64bit
Solaris i386
Mac OSX PowerPC 32bit

The server is designed so that multiple copies can be started on the same computer and properly supports multi-homed systems, even including interface filtering.

In the Windows environment the server can be started manually or configured to run as an NT Service when using one of the Microsoft NT/2000/XP Operating Systems. The NT service can also be configured to start multiple instances of the server program and has built in features to automatically restart servers if the administrator issues a shutdown command or if a program bug is encountered.

In the UNIX environments the server can be started manually or configured to run as a background daemon. Multiple instances of the UNIX server can be started on the same computer. It's also possible to configure them on a "reserved" basis in which they are started automatically at certain times and then terminated later.

The server CPU utilization under most conditions won't even register, so a fairly low level computer should be more then sufficient.

Bandwidth usage is determined by the codec and is dictated by the server. It could be as low as 600 bytes/sec or as high as 8000 bytes/sec per voice stream.

Windows Platform:

DirectX 8.1 or higher installed on your system.

In order to function properly, the Ventrilo client program requires a sound card that supports Full-Duplex sound playback and microphone recording. It also requires a sound card that is capable of handling multiple sound streams.

Older sound cards like the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16, PCI and Vibra series are not capable of this, but the newer generation of sound cards like Sound Blaster Live and Audigy are more then sufficient. Other manufacturers sound cards, such as the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, should also be compatible.

Please be aware that any number of things can effect proper operation of a voice communication program, such as the Operating System, microphone, sound card, sound card drivers and hardware conflicts. Problems caused by any of these items can sometimes be diagnosed and resolved but a lot of them are beyond our control.

Macintosh Platform:

OSX 10.3 or higher