The fourth release of the HP 3000 Series III simulator is now available https://github.com/simh/simh This release adds the HP 32234A COBOL II Extended Instruction Set firmware, enabling execution of programs produced by the COBOL II ('74 and '85) compilers. The new SET CPU CIS option enables the firmware. In addition, two new debug tracing options were added. The SET CPU DEBUG=OPND command turns on memory byte operand tracing to show the values supplied, e.g., to the CMPS (Compare String) instruction. The SET CPU DEBUG=EXEC command turns on execution tracing for a specific instruction or instruction family. The full set of new features is listed in the release notes that accompany the simulator source files. In addition, an updated HP 3000 Simulator User's Guide that covers the new commands is provided in Microsoft Word format with the source download and also as a PDF file at: http://alum.mit.edu/www/jdbryan/hp3000_doc.pdf The preconfigured MPE-V/R disc image available here: http://simh.trailing-edge.com/kits/mpe-vr-software-kit.zip ...has been updated to add the COBOL II runtime routines to the system Segmented Library and COBOL example programs to the OPERATOR.SYS account. The startup command files also now enable the COBOL II instruction set. -- Dave Bryan