<p>We are pleased to announce the <a href="http://www.magentocommerce.com/download" title="availability for download">availability for download</a> of Magento Preview version 0.6.12840. The biggest highlight of the release is PayPal integration (<a href="http://www.magentocommerce.com/media/screencasts/working-with-paypal/view" title="view screencast">view screencast</a>) and multi-lingual support.</p>

<p><img src="http://www.magentocommerce.com/images/uploads/paypal_logo.gif" style="border: 0;" alt="image" width="114" height="31" /> </p>

<p>Magento supports two different PayPal methods for use in your websites and stores: <b>PayPal Express</b>, which allows the customer to check out from the PayPal site, and <b>PayPal Direct</b>, which offers credit card processing capability without the customer having to ever leave your store. </p>

<p>With PayPal Express, the customer is transferred to PayPal's checkout from a button in the shopping cart, or from the "Payment Method" section of the Magento checkout process. Upon successfully completing checkout, they are immediately returned to the "Completed Order" page on your store. Customers with a PayPal account looking for a quick checkout may prefer this option. </p>

<p>With PayPal Direct, customers don't need a PayPal account. Instead, customers are prompted to enter their credit card information in the "Payment Method" stage of your store's checkout, taking them seamlessly through the process from beginning to end. With Magento's ability to re-name payment methods, customers don't even need to know they're using PayPal. </p>

<p><a href="ttp://www.magentocommerce.com/media/screencasts/working-with-paypal/view" title="Checkout Magento's PayPal functionality in action ...">Checkout Magento's PayPal functionality in action ...</a></p>

<a href="http://www.magentocommerce.com/media/screencasts/working-with-paypal/view" /><img src="http://www.magentocommerce.com/images/uploads/paypal.gif" style="border: 0;" alt="image" width="264" height="162" /> </a>

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<p>-- RELEASE NOTES - MAGENTO 0.6.12840 --</p>

<p><strong>MAJOR CHANGES: </strong></p>
<p><b>Added localization settings:</b> </p>
<ul>
<li> Locale configuration in installation wizard </li>
<li> Locale configuration in admin </li>
<li> Currency and date formatting </li>
</ul><br />
<p><b>Added translations functionality:</b> </p>
<ul>
<li> Reworked all the templates to take translated values </li>
<li>
Prepared translation skeletons </li>
<li> Implemented English (US) translation </li>
</ul><br />
<p><b>Implemented Paypal payment methods: </b></p>
<ul>
<li> Website Payments Pro </li>
<li> Paypal Express </li>
<li> PayPal Direct </li>
</ul><br />
<p><b>Admin permissions implementation mostly rewritten</b> </p>
<ul>
<li> Moved permissions models to 'Admin' module, 'Permissions' module deleted </li>
<li> Implemented permissions checking for system configuration section in admin </li>
</ul><br />
<p><b> Added multi store product reviews management functionality</b> </p>
<p> <b>Added multi store ratings management functionality</b> </p>
<p><strong>APPLICATION BUGFIXES: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Menu hover color bug fix</li>
<li>Fixed error in install template</li>
<li>Fixed one-page checkout javascript error</li>
<li>Fixed image uploader for Windows</li>
<li>Fixed loading install layout from db</li>
<li>Fixed layout and payment methods displaying in multiple addresses checkout </li>
<li>Empty password was sent in checkout registration email</li>
<li>Adding item to wishlist twice caused program exceptions</li>
<li>Fixed deleting backups</li>
<li>Fixed few newsletter subscription bugs ('My Account' dashboard text, newsletter status in admin) </li>
</ul><br />
<p><strong>ENHANCEMENTS: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Added few models' setters and getters to increase performance </li>
<li>Replaces _initChildren to _prepareLayout and removed _afterSetLayout methods </li>
<li>Added Block_Abstract::getBlockHtml method</li>
<li>Layouts moved to single file</li>
<li>Changed most of the layout updates to be action updates</li>
<li>Implemented payment methods sorting</li>
<li>Added 'Exclude multi-address checkout' option in payment methods configuration </li>
<li>Added 'Save As' function for newsletter templates</li>
</ul><br />
<p><strong>KNOWN ISSUES:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>3rd level admin menu is broken in IE</li>
<li>Coupon discount not shown in order totals in customer account </li>
<li>Security warnings when submitting forms from secure to non-secure pages </li>
</ul><br />

More...