Welcome to Abel. This version runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. It is likely that it will also run on future versions of Windows. An older version of Abel is also available, which runs on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows 2000. Some users have also run Abel on Linux using a Windows emulator, with some success. Abel is not suitable for the Apple Mac, for which you should use Mabel: see the AbelSim website, which also tells you about Mobel, a simulator for the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Thank you very much for buying the program; we hope you enjoy using it, and that it helps you progress in bell ringing. As you probably know, the profits from Abel go to charity, including The Ringing Foundation, so thank you for supporting this fund-raising effort.

Please remember that the End User Licence and Guarantee says you are not allowed to share this copy of Abel with your friends, who should buy their own copies!

The rest of this page contains important information that we advise you to read before using Abel. However, if you can't wait to start, see Getting Started now. If you're a bit more patient, read on!

This version of Abel is the latest in a line of ringing simulator programs, starting with abel 1 running on DOS back in 1993. This was soon superseded by abel 2, which had many new features and became widely used by ringers, both for practice at home and as a simulator in towers. The current version of Abel includes many important enhancements for both home and tower use.

Abel has a wide range of features, simulating nearly all the situations you're likely to encounter in real-life tower- and hand-bell ringing. We've put in a lot of effort to making sure it behaves correctly. Nonetheless, the program has a few limitations, and could have bugs; see Restrictions and bugs.

If you believe that Abel is misbehaving in any way, please do tell us (see Support). We are very keen to get any remaining bugs out of the program! If you report a bug to us, we will use reasonable endeavours to fix it for you and release an update to Abel. We are also always interested to hear suggestions for enhancements.

And, if you've read this far, the Getting Started section will tell you what to do next!

Click on one of the options below to start finding out more about Abel.

  End user licence and guarantee
  Restrictions, features and bugs
  Getting started