The Wireshark interface has significant improvements to get you up and running with your analysis. The interface is intuitive, with shortcuts and methods to make navigation easier. The following is a list of some of the many ways the interface improves your experience:

• Quickly begin capturing traffic by selecting an active sparkline, as shown in the previous screenshot.
• Easily add columns—simply right-click on a value in the packet details area and select Apply as a Column:

• Intelligent scrollbar coloring—found on the right-hand side of the packet list, as shown in the following screenshot. When coloring rules are on, you can see indication of any problems and quickly go to trouble spots, as follows:

• Enhanced graphs—flow graphs and IO graphs are easier to use.
• Coloring rules are easier to create and edit.
• Related packets—you can simply click to see related packets (shown in the preceding screenshot).
• Capable of translating to several different languages.

With approximately 1.5 million downloads per month, Wireshark has become a significant tool. It has proven to be flexible as an open source utility that encourages developers to add functionality, along with improving the overall appearance.

Each new version improves the application, adding things such as fixing a simple visual or display issue, to more significant problems that can cause an application to crash, such as dissectors. When you update Wireshark, take the time to read the notes, which will include information such as the following:

• What's new
• Bug fixes
• New and updated features
• New protocol support
• Updated protocol support
• New and updated capture file support
• New and updated capture interfaces support
• Getting help
• Frequently asked questions

All of the improvements over the years have been possible because of the generosity of the open source community. The following section will outline how to see who is involved in creating Wireshark.