Major Improvements:
* Massive optimizations to OpenGL rendering code, especially of detail textures (2-5x speedup on modern hardware).
* A whole new rendering backend, DirectX10/11! This is likely to be the renderer of choice for users with modern AMD/ATI or Intel cards.
* New event-based input code guarantees that every character you type will be registered. This should finally fix the 'I can't type right in myth' syndrome.
* Added a preference "Autosave Films (Multiplayer)" to automatically save all multiplayer films.
* Fixed two rare but annoying bugs where moving a unit could result in it being deselected instead.
* Eliminated up to two ticks of baked-in latency in the Myth netcode. (One tick = 1/30th of a second.)

Graphics/Rendering improvements:
* Eliminated sprite/mesh flickering. (only in GL and DX11 renderers)
* Slightly improved camera smoothness (yes, even more smooth than 1.7.1!) by use of a higher resolution timer.
* Automatic guessing of optimal texture cache size.
* Overhead map blips will now fade together with the overhead itself, when it is toggled on or off.
* Models' media surfaces are no longer self-reflective. Eg. the water on a bridge model won't reflect itself.

UI Improvements:
* Chat text will now only auto-scroll for important messages, or if the current scroll position is all the way at the bottom.
* Fixed several small problems with the appearance of icon popup controls (player icon selector, room selector).
* Name spoofing or use of the <> characters in the metaserver lobby will no longer prevent a player's info from being seen.

Windows-specific changes:
* All: Refined the choices for windowed/fullscreen: Now you can choose from windowed, automatic, and fullscreen -
       windowed: play in a window, or "fullscreen windowed" @ your desktop res (with instant alt-tab on Vista+)
       automatic: windowed if the window fits on your desktop, fullscreen otherwise.
       fullscreen: just fullscreen.
* All: In single player, myth will automatically pause and enter a reduced-CPU-use state when you switch to another app.
* All: SMACKW32.dll is no longer required for Myth to run (it's still required to play smacker cutscenes).
* All: Myth now defaults to windowed mode, and automatically fallback to windowed mode if fullscreen mode fails.
* Vista+: Possibly fixed the 'vista sound delay' bug. (We need your help to figure out if this is actually fixed)
* Vista+: Fixed fullscreen/windowed toggle.
* Vista+: Faster map restarts under OpenGL.
* XP+: Myth now respects user control panel preference for left/right mouse handedness.
* 9x: Myth no longer minimizes & maximizes itself during resolution switches.
* 95: Myth can now be launched in windows 95 again!

Gameplay fixes:
* Fixed problem on TSG level Fall of Markon where the castle gate would not open (introduced in 1.7.1).

Mapmaking changes:
* Allow unlimited stopping/restarting of LPGRs by script.