Today we are here to crack the door open a bit more and officially, to the world, announce that Unity 2.5 is coming soon! I know everyone is cringing for a specific date and we still don’t have anything more for you on that front other than we’re aiming for a release prior to GDC (which occurs in late March). But what is news here is that we can now share a bit more about the release in terms of its feature set and of course some tasty screenshots. Rather than repost news found elsewhere I’ll direct y’all to our website, and then hang around to help answer the questions I’m sure will come up.
And as to those screenshots, you’ll find them online but they’re not at full resolution due to needing them to be a bit more “web friendly”. To offer you forum kids some extra sugar I’ve posted them in full resolution to give you a better look at Unity 2.5. Just click the images below to view them at full resolution:
We’re getting ever so close and I cannot wait to unleash Unity 2.5 on the world! I’m sure you’ll have them so bring on the questions!
Note: as questions come up I’ll track them and have a set of FAQs here in this post…
Q: Can you tell us when it will be released? 
A: Unfortunately we don’t have anything specific to offer, I can say that our current plans have Unity 2.5 ready for release by GDC (late March).
Q: Will this be a free update?
A: Yes! This be a free update for all existing owners of Unity 2!
Q: Can I own one license and install on both a Mac and a Windows machine?
A: Yes! Unity licenses are not platform specific and each license allows you to install on two machines, it’s up to you how to use those two installs (2 Mac, 2 Win or 1 of each).
Q: Can I move project folders between Mac and Windows?
A: Yes!
Q: Will this release include any Unity iPhone updates?
A: No, this is an update to Unity only, Unity iPhone is a separate and parallel project that isn’t being updated as part of this release.
Q: So it means that Unity Indie on Mac won’t be able to publish to Windows?
A: 2.5 Indie on either platform can build standalones for either platform, with a splash screen. 2.5 Pro - the same but without the splash screen.
Q: Will the price of unity indie/pro change with 2.5?
A: The pricing structure will stay the same.
Q: Unity Asset Server accessible from Windows?
A: The Asset Server client-side interface will be accessible from WIndows. It’s the Asset Server server-side installation that may come a bit later. Unity 2.5 on Windows can already access an Asset Server that’s installed on an OSX or Linux machine.
Q: Any chance to get the beta-version?
A: All filled up on beta testers for now.
Q: Floating windows for multi-monitor setups?
A: Yes
Q: What are the minimum system requirements to run Unity 2.5? (authoring, not player)
A: For the Mac the general requirements are the same with the exception that we’re only guaranteeing compatibility with OS X 10.4 or higher. For Windows users:
* Windows XP SP2 or later or Windows Vista SP1 or later.
* Pretty much any CPU.
* Some amount of RAM. How much to work comfortably, depends on the size of the game you’re working on.
* Graphics card with 4+ texture units or pixel shader 1.1 or better (this includes GeForce 3 and up, Radeon 8500 and up, Intel 865 and up). In other words, any graphics card that is less than 7 years old.
