Though some less than patient folks have been playing with version 1.8 of Minecraft for a few days thanks to a quasi-official leak, Mojang has now made the update completely official. Next time you start up Minecraft, the client should automatically download the patch and give you a chance to try out all the new bell and whistles.
1.8, more commonly known as the Adventure Update, brings a host of new features to the world of Minecraft. There are new enemies, randomly generated dungeons, NPC towns, experience points, and a whole lot more than we have the space to list here. In a lot of ways, this update represents a significant step towards a more objective-driven form of play for Minecraft, which began life as a relatively simple sandbox. It'll be interesting to see how Mojang continues to expand the game as it prepares to leave beta.
Minecraft's full release is scheduled for November 11 of this year, with the first annual Minecraft Convention kicking off a week later in Las Vegas.