• The Date API now uses PHP 5.2 date functions for better date and timezone handling (and has PHP 4 emulations for those functions so the module will work in PHP4). Although the code will work with PHP 4, it is significantly faster and more efficient under PHP 5.2 or higher, so PHP 5.2 is highly recommended.
• The database query handling has been completely re-worked to take advantage of database timezone handling when available, with a fallback to the older and less reliable method of using offsets to do timezone adjustments.
• No more need for the adodb date library, historical dates earlier than 1970 and later than 2038 are handled without any external code.
• iCal integration is greatly improved, an iCal parser can parse events, alarms, most types of dates and timezones, duration, repeat rules, and more.
• The Date API creates date elements that can be used by any module, including 'date_select', 'date_textfield', and 'date_timezone'.
• A new Date Timezone module overrides the site and user timezone selectors to allow you to select a timezone name instead of a timezone offset, and that stored name is used to properly adjust date values. It also detects the user's timezone name automatically and updates the user record with that name.
• A new Date Popup module creates a jQuery popup calendar date picker and time picker, and the element is available to other modules as a form type of 'date_popup'.
• The Date module now has lots of new ways to define default values -- you can set a the default to 'blank', 'now', or 'relative', where relative is something like '+90 days'. The To date has a separate default value, which can be the same as the From date or do something different.
• A Date Repeat API module has been added which can be used by any other module. The CCK Date module uses it to allow you to select 'repeating' as a type of multiple date, present the user with a form to select the repeat rules for their date, and then create all the multiple values that match those rules.