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NEW KEY FEATURES
WEB PERFORMANCE TRAINER 2.6
Version 2.6 - Release date: 10/21/2003
The latest version of Web Performance Trainer adds new high-end features such as IP spoofing, client certificates, VPN support, and scheduled playback, along with a host of other enhancements.
When real users access a web site the requests come from individual computers, each with a unique IP address. This information is often used by hardware load balancers and routers, as well as web server software. The virtual users generated by Web Performance Trainer 2.6 can have unique IP addresses even if there is only a single network card in your test computer.
Client certificates and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are popular ways to control access to corporate networks. With Web Performance Trainer 2.6 each virtual user can be assigned a unique client certificate, and can be used either by itself or in conjunction with usernames, passwords, or any other information. Both recording and playback can now take place over a VPN as well.
Other features in the 2.6 release include global export of test data to a spreadsheet, and the ability to start playback from the commandline which can be used to schedule playback using your operating systems build-in scheduling facility. 
WEB PERFORMANCE TRAINER 2.5
Version 2.5 - Release date: 10/01/2002
...The User Capacity report instantly answers the question "How many users can my website handle?" Provide the report with your performance goals and Web Performance Trainer will analyze your test results and tell you how many users your website can handle while satisfying your performance goals.
...The Peak Page Duration report analyzes the maximum durations observed for all the web pages in your test and presents them in a convenient table. Pre-configured graphs, provided below the table, instantly show important performance statistics for the pages that interest you.
Improved installer now includes a graphical installer for Linux and Solaris, as well as separate installation options for the controller and remote engines.
WEB PERFORMANCE TRAINER 2.4
Datasets (formerly called Form Data)
The ability to supply data to replace URL parameters and form fields has been greatly enhanced:
Multi-column: A Dataset can now be created (or imported) which contains multiple columns of related data (e.g. username and password).
Lifespan: Each Dataset has a lifespan - this defines how long a row of data from the DataSet will be used by a virtual user. This means the same values can be used to replace values throughout an entire URL, Web Page or Business Case. The lifespan is configured for each DataSet and replaces the 'Global Sequential Access' setting currently in use.
Reusablility: Each Dataset can be defined as reusable or non-reusable. If it is non-reusable - then once a row in the Dataset has been used, it will never be used again. For example, if a test performs the insertion of a unique row into a database that can never be inserted again, no virtual user will ever use the same data values. Note that a non-reusable Dataset will limit the total length of the test - when all the rows in a non-reusable DataSet have been exhausted, the test will abort. This feature could be used to force a test to end after a certain number of repeats (when it runs out of data).
Sharability: Each Dataset can be defined as sharable or non-sharable. When a dataset is not sharable, multiple virtual users can not use the same row of the dataset at the same time. This can be useful for username/password datasets when the application being tested does not allow the same user to have multiple logins at the same time. A sharable dataset must also be reusable. Note that A non-sharable dataset must have enough rows for all the virtual users. If not, the test will eventually run out of data and end prematurely.
Browser auto-discovery and auto-configuration
When Web Performance Trainer starts the first time, it will attempt to discover the browsers that are installed on the system. The user will be asked to choose which browser to use for recording Business Cases. For supported browsers, when a recording is initiated, Web Performance Trainer will automatically configure the proxy settings, clear the cache and cookies, and then launch the browser. When the user exits Web Performance Trainer, the proxys settings and cookies will be restored. Supported browsers are Netscape/Mozilla (Windows and UNIX).
COMMENT: Restoring cookies with Internet Explorer (Windows) will be supported in a future release.
When the port numbers used by Web Performance Trainer are in use when Web Performance Trainer starts, the configuration can be changed within Web Performance Trainer and does not require a restart. Manual editing of the configuration file is no longer required.
When no license key is present - the user will be prompted for the location of the license key. The user no longer needs to ensure the license key is copied into the correct folder or has the correct name.
Web Performance Trainernow supports multiple processor hardware under Windows (Linux and Solaris already supported).
A few changes have been made to statistics collected by Web Performance Trainer. First, the bytes/sec is now calculated _per user_ (for business cases, web pages, and urls). This will allow the user to more easily identify the changes in bandwidth available to each virtual user as the load on the server increases. Second, a new statistic, "bytes", has been added. The "bytes" statistic will track the total bytes transferred for the selected events completed within each sample period.
Compatibility
Web Performance Trainer 2.4 is not backwards compatible with version 2.3 files (or earlier) files. Old files will be automatically upgraded when opened. Once an upgraded file is saved, it will no longer be usable in Web Performance Trainer version 2.3 (or earlier).