Development on the next client is underway. This is based on the current Litecoin (0.10.4 )client.
There will be a "soft-fork" involved, so that we can get current:
-V4 block structures
-coin control
-multi-sig
Just to name a few
I've had a few inquiries over the weekend, so I'm going to expand and clarify this post:
The new Client is under development (it has NOT been released ), the source code can be checked out of github from the 0.10.4.0 branch for developers to read over, contribute, test etc...
From a technical point of view, the changes are as follows:
- We are jumping from a V1 block structure to V4 directly
- Coin-control features of the newer crypto clients will be available
- Multi-Sig addresses/features will be available, unless I find an issue with them that would delay release
- The testnet code is being properly addressed, so there will be a test-net for developers, miners, exchanges and other services to test against without having to tweak the source themselves
The softfork mentioned is not an emergency, nor is it a cause for great concern, it is a plan to make the transition from V1 blocks to V4 blocks seamless. This will be done through the SuperMajority algorithm. Very simply when 95% of the preceeding 1000 blocks are V4, the network will begin rejecting V1 blocks generated by miners. Until that point both V1 and V4 blocks will be accepted.
Coin-control allows you to specify which addresses your coins are sent from, rather than allowing the client to pull coins from any available address.
Multi-sig allows for multiple signature transactions, so that businesses can begin instituting better checks and balances over their wallets
Testnet is a fully functioning crypto blockchain network with metrics that allow for testing code against a sexcoin test chain.