* The serialized message cache, which would have been redundant, has been removed. Similar performance characteristics can be achieved with $wgLocalisationCacheConf['manualRecache'] = true;
* Added a maintenance script rebuildLocalisationCache.php for offline rebuilding of the localisation cache.
* Extension i18n files can now contain any of the variables which can be set in Messages*.php. It is possible, and recommended, to use this feature instead of the hooks for special page aliases and magic words.
* $wgExtensionAliasesFiles, LanguageGetMagic and LanguageGetSpecialPageAliases are retained for backwards compatibility. $wgMessageCache->addMessages() and related functions have been removed. wfLoadExtensionMessages() is a no-op and can continue to be called for b/c.
* Introduced $wgCacheDirectory as a default location for the various local caches that have accumulated. Suggested $IP/cache as a good place for it in the default LocalSettings.php and created this directory with a deny-all .htaccess.
* Patched Exception.php to avoid using the message cache when an exception is thrown from within LocalisationCache, since this tends to fail horribly.
* Removed Language::getLocalisationArray(), Language::loadLocalisation(), Language::load()
* Fixed FileDependency::__sleep()
* In Cdb.php, fixed newlines in debug messages
In MessageCache::get():
* Replaced calls to $wgContLang capitalisation functions with plain PHP functions, reducing the typical case from 99us to 93us. Message cache keys are already documented as being restricted to ASCII.
* Implemented a more efficient way to filter out bogus language codes, reducing the "foo/en" case from 430us to 101us
* Optimised wfRunHooks() in the typical do-nothing case, from ~30us to ~3us. This reduced MessageCache::get() typical case time from 93us to 38us.
* Removed hook MessageNotInMwNs to save an extra 3us per cache hit. Reimplemented the only user (LocalisationUpdate) using the new hook LocalisationCacheRecache.