This executable is linked with libNew, unlike root.exe, which makes it appropriate for if one wants to use memory mapped file, TMapFile, and so on. In all other aspects, it's the same as the root(1) executable.
Original authors
The ROOT team:
Rene Brun and Fons Rademakers
Releases
4 releases since Debian 5.0 (Lenny); the text changed 2 times.