Minecraft 1.7.1 ‘The Update that Changed the World’ Dated for Release

Mojang has announced plans to release patch 1.7.1 of Minecraft tomorrow at approximately 15:00CEST. Dubbed "The Update that Changed the World", the new patch has been in the works for over half a year and adds twice the amount of in-game biomes, along with an overhaul of "lots of code" (half a million lines) in preparation for the plugin API.

Here's what's in it:

• New world generation!
  • Double the amount of biomes, with new trees/flowers/blocks.
  • New “Amplified” world option.
  • Less ocean, more awesome.
• New blocks!
  • Two new types of wood.
  • Stained glass! With both blocks and panes.
  • Packed ice, red sand, podzol.
  • Lots of new flowers, including double-tall versions of current plants.
  • Portals can be bigger sizes!
• Fishing!
  • Added more type of fish.
  • Redone the fishing mechanics. Can now catch junk and treasure too.
  • Fishing rod enchantments!
• Maps!
  • Put them in an item frame and hang them on your wall. They’re extra big!
  • Lots of new colours for lots of blocks!
  • Now with less lag!
• Achievement & Statistics overhaul!
  • Now both world (or server) specific.
  • In multiplayer, it’s announced to everybody when you get an achievement.
    • You can move your mouse over this in the chat to see what it was!
  • Some new achievements and statistic types were added.
  • Zoomable achievements screen!
• Multiplayer enhancements!
  • Servers can now put a 64×64 image called “server-icon.png” in their folder, that you will see on your server list.
  •  You can see who’s online before joining a server; move your mouse over the player count!
  • Lots of hidden preparation for allowing name changes.
• Resource pack changes!
  • You can now have multiple selected.
  • They can completely re-do your sounds, adding new ones or changing current ones.
  • Servers can now recommend a resource pack for you to use.
• Chat & command improvements!
  • New commands to spawn mobs or blocks of any type.
  • Command block minecart!
  • Clickable links to achievements and items.
  • Click on somebody’s name in the chat to message them!
• Lots and lots of technical work!
  • Completely rewrote how the network (multiplayer) works.
  • Completely rewrote the sound manager.
  • New graphics options.
  • Basic shader support testing.
  • Many bugs fixed