You can now use BLOB columns and the functions IS NULL and IS NOT NULL in the WHERE clause.

All communication packets and row buffers are now allocated dynamically on demand. The default value of max_allowed_packet is now 64K for the server and 512K for the client. This is mainly used to catch incorrect packets that could trash all memory. The server limit may be changed when it is started.

Changed stack usage to use less memory.

Changed safe_mysqld to check for running daemon.

The ELT() function is renamed to FIELD(). The new ELT() function returns a value based on an index: FIELD() is the inverse of ELT() Example: ELT(2,"A","B","C") returns "B". FIELD("B","A","B","C") returns 2.

COUNT(field), where field could have a NULL value, now works.

A couple of bugs fixed in SELECT ... GROUP BY.

Fixed memory overrun bug in WHERE with many unoptimizable brace levels.

Fixed some small bugs in the grant code.

If hostname isn't found by get_hostname, only the IP is checked. Previously, you got Access denied.

Inserts of timestamps with values didn't always work.

INSERT INTO ... SELECT ... WHERE could give the error Duplicated field.

Added some tests to safe_mysqld to make it ``safer''.

LIKE was case-sensitive in some places and case-insensitive in others. Now LIKE is always case-insensitive.

mysql.cc: Allow '#' anywhere on the line.

New command SET SQL_SELECT_LIMIT=#. See the FAQ for more details.

New version of the mysqlaccess script.

Change FROM_DAYS() and WEEKDAY() to also take a full TIMESTAMP or DATETIME as argument. Before they only took a number of type YYYYMMDD or YYMMDD.

Added new function UNIX_TIMESTAMP(timestamp_column).