I've had 0.88.1-beta on my online machine (W7 x64) and an even much earlier version offline (W7 x86).  The pair has been very stable but I feel the need to get with the times and upgrade to the current 0.90-beta version.  Should I also upgrade the offline Armory to 0.90-beta just to be consistent if nothing else?  Furthermore, do I need to uninstall the older versions first before upgrading or just install and upgrade over them? 

Just run the installer when Armory isn't running.  You'll eventually get to a point where the new features available will justify the need to upgrade your offline Armory version (let's say you want to use M-of-N for your back ups). 

You shouldn't run into a compatibility issue, using an ancient version of Armory to sign plain transactions emitted with 0.90. 

I've had 0.88.1-beta on my online machine (W7 x64) and an even much earlier version offline (W7 x86).  The pair has been very stable but I feel the need to get with the times and upgrade to the current 0.90-beta version.  Should I also upgrade the offline Armory to 0.90-beta just to be consistent if nothing else?  Furthermore, do I need to uninstall the older versions first before upgrading or just install and upgrade over them? 

Just run the installer when Armory isn't running.  You'll eventually get to a point where the new features available will justify the need to upgrade your offline Armory version (let's say you want to use M-of-N for your back ups). 

You shouldn't run into a compatibility issue, using an ancient version of Armory to sign plain transactions emitted with 0.90. 

Thanks for the quick reply, goatpig.  I might as well go all the way and upgrade both.  What's an M-of-N feature BTW?  I haven't seen that term/acronym on the website. 

Thanks for the quick reply, goatpig.  I might as well go all the way and upgrade both.  What's an M-of-N feature BTW?  I haven't seen that term/acronym on the website. 

One of the new backup feature: constructs a wallet backup made of N fragments, which can be a mix of paper and digital backups.  Requires M (M<=N) fragments to recompose the wallet.  Currently M spans from 2 to 8 and N from 2 to 12. 

Thanks for the quick reply, goatpig.  I might as well go all the way and upgrade both.  What's an M-of-N feature BTW?  I haven't seen that term/acronym on the website. 

One of the new backup feature: constructs a wallet backup made of N fragments, which can be a mix of paper and digital backups.  Requires M (M<=N) fragments to recompose the wallet.  Currently M spans from 2 to 8 and N from 2 to 12. 

That went straight over my head (I'm coding-challenged) .  Anyhow, does this mean that I have to create a new set of paper and digital backups of all my wallets/private keys on the offline machine after upgrading?  It's probably not likely but I just want to be sure. 

That went straight over my head (I'm coding-challenged) .  Anyhow, does this mean that I have to create a new set of paper and digital backups of all my wallets/private keys on the offline machine after upgrading?  It's probably not likely but I just want to be sure. 

You don't have to unless you want to use the feature.  If you're fine with single sheet paper backups, there's no need to move to M-of-N. The later isn't replacing the former, it's an added feature. 

That went straight over my head (I'm coding-challenged) .  Anyhow, does this mean that I have to create a new set of paper and digital backups of all my wallets/private keys on the offline machine after upgrading?  It's probably not likely but I just want to be sure. 

You don't have to unless you want to use the feature.  If you're fine with single sheet paper backups, there's no need to move to M-of-N. The later isn't replacing the former, it's an added feature. 

Small request, or maybe it has already been implemented somehow.  Can Armory users get the option to switch into mBTC please? 

Not yet.  But we'll be adding it to 0.91-beta.  That version is mostly bug-fixes, usability upgrades, polishing, etc.  Things like sending to P2SH, unicode fixes, alternate units, will all be implemented then. 

Can you add the printable special characters to the mouse keyboard for wallet password.  A few are there, but most missing.  Thanks! 

That's one of the little things going into 0.91-beta ... added support for all character encodings/types, except inside wallets (which the wallet format and code was not designed to accommodate).  When I finally finish the new wallet format, then we can can have a fully internationalized app, with no restrictions anywhere.  Then we can also start prepping the app for localization & translations. 

So I downloaded the .91 beta.  But it's back to taking forever to start up.  Literally 20 minutes. Is it suppose to do that.  I thought the last version fixed that. 

The first time you run the new version, it has to read the block data from bitcoin's data directory and write its own to the armory data directory.  This takes a while, but only has to be done once.  Subsequent startups will read the block data from the armory directory much more quickly. 

i have had it for 4-5 days and have started it up at least 6 times.  Every time it takes 20 minutes. Should I re-download? 

Are you closing Armory "properly"?  It will rescan every time there's an unclean shutdown, to avoid any SNAFU-problems associated with close-but-not-actually-correct wallet histories.  If you shutdown Armory using "File"->"Quit Armory" or use the (X) in the corner, it should be fine.  If you're rebooting without closing Armory first, or you're killing it through the task manager, you'll be rescanning every time. 

In 0.91-beta I'll experiment with removing clean-shutdown criteria.  I know it's annoying, but I determined the risk of people with seemingly-correct histories that aren't actually correct could cause serious problems (invisible coins, lost coins and/or inability to send). 

i have had it for 4-5 days and have started it up at least 6 times.  Every time it takes 20 minutes. Should I re-download? 

Are you closing Armory "properly"?  It will rescan every time there's an unclean shutdown, to avoid any SNAFU-problems associated with close-but-not-actually-correct wallet histories.  If you shutdown Armory using "File"->"Quit Armory" or use the (X) in the corner, it should be fine.  If you're rebooting without closing Armory first, or you're killing it through the task manager, you'll be rescanning every time. 

In 0.91-beta I'll experiment with removing clean-shutdown criteria.  I know it's annoying, but I determined the risk of people with seemingly-correct histories that aren't actually correct could cause serious problems (invisible coins, lost coins and/or inability to send). 

That's probably it.  I close my PC but don't turn it off when I'm in transit.  Sometimes when I open it back up Armory will crash.  Sometimes not.  I bet that's the reason.  Thanks!