Tcl/Tk 9.1 was released on September 30. Tk is older than most of the Linux desktop, and it is everywhere you might not expect: it is the toolkit behind Python’s tkinter, so countless small utilities, teaching programs, and internal tools are Tk applications.

Accessibility

The most important change: Tk applications now support screen readers. Tk has historically been invisible to assistive technology, which made every tkinter tool inaccessible to blind users. Our Linux accessibility guide covers how screen readers like Orca reach applications.

Initial bidirectional text support arrives too, for right-to-left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew.

New widgets

• ttk::toggleswitch, a native toggle control
• Rotated text for labels
• Dialogs are kept from extending off-screen

Tcl language

• unicode for Unicode normalisation
• timer, a monotonic clock with microsecond resolution
• lfilter for filtering lists
• C99 maths functions and better 64-bit size support

Platform notes

macOS now handles case-insensitive filesystem paths, Windows executable lookup was reworked, and Windows XP visual styles are gone.

When you will see it

Python applications pick up new Tk when your Python build links against it. Distributions will move to 9.1 at their own pace; tkinter applications gain the accessibility support without code changes once they do.