Notch just changed something. Something that has stayed the same for years. That something is the score!

 He tweeted: Oh snaaaaaaaap! I broke a long lasting tradition in minecraft by making each experience orb equal one score point. :-o :-O :-( ) 

  And right after that he tweeted this proof image:

Today, something very important changed. Finally.

Update

Notch tweeted that this week there will be a second pre-release of 1.9 , and also announced a new feature: Repairing items! 

@notch To prevent feeling like you're missing out by not repairing, it's ultra easy. Combine two damaged items to get a new item with less damage.

Minecraft Beta 1.9 pre-release out NOW!

You can get it here

Installation instructions for Windows (XP, vista or 7):

1. Press Win+R to open the "Run" menu
2. Type in %appdata% and hit Enter
3. Now you should be in your appdata folder
4. Open the folder called "Minecraft"
5. Now open "bin"
6. replace the (existing) minecraft.jar with the one you just downloaded and voilà, you can now play 1.9 pre-release!

New Mob!

Notch: Got frustrated with AWS, so I made a new mob! :D It will be craftable, is friendly, and throws snowballs at enemies. Also melts in hot biomes. Also, they spread snow by walking around. Nice.

1.8 Update

It is now official, ITS OUT, GO GET IT!

There are still some buggs though.