Minecraft Launcher



The Minecraft launcher is the login and downloader app which is run to execute the latest update of Minecraft and check login credentials. This has remained the same since the initial release of the launcher, when the downloadable client was released.

Upcoming Launcher
A new version of the launcher is expected to be released in the coming days. Notch has uploaded an exclusive image of the worked on project, which is shown on his Tumblr page (The Word of Notch). Click for the sneak preview. Also, that page explains more further on version 1.2_02 and its release.

By the image, you can assume that Notch has added a "Minecraft News" section, where you get the latest updates involving Minecraft (of course). At the bottom of the launcher, it includes a small login system that both logs into the Minecraft site & database, and the game itself. You can get the latest feed from Minecraft's Facebook page, Tumblr and even purchase merchandise such as T-Shirts, and many other miscellaneous items. Having the ability to get the latest feeds from the launcher is by downloaded the release notes, which was mentioned again on the Tumblr page given above.

Trivia

 * Even though this project is official, the release date is yet unknown.
 * This launcher helps prevent from opening multiple pages to access news feed.