Java Edition Beta

Beta is the current development phase in Minecraft. It was announced on Notch's blog on December 11 2010 and released nine days later, on December 20, 2010. As well as some minor updates, the transition from Alpha saw a 50% price increase (therefore making the cost 25% off the full price), a change in the disclaimer (Notch removed the line that said "all future updates will be provided free of charge") and minor updates to the main website.

Features
Some of the new features in the beta phase are:
 * Server-Sided Inventory.
 * New leaf decay method.
 * Clan cloaks for Mojang members.
 * The player now has support to wear a cape.
 * Tooltips in inventory - When you mouse over an item, its name appears.
 * Mobs get new faces.