This release incorporates numerous enhancements, refinements, bug-fixes, speed-ups and architectural changes that will benefit developers, designers and deployers. Compatibility with supported functionality of previous releases has been a specific focus allowing most existing installations to upgrade with minimal changes required and typically, none at all. The 2.6.0 release also marks a maturation of the Smarty codebase, source code and documentation. With improved error handling, enhanced diagnostic capabilities, better multi-platform support and numerous bug-fixes, many testers have noted that 2.6.0 is more stable and easier to debug than previous versions. Some adopters are already using pre-release versions of 2.6.0 on production sites. Source code improvements include improved organization and better annotation including tagging support for PHP Documentor. Incremental improvements were also achieved in the accompanying documentation, now available in English, German and a new French translation. General Important changes have been made to the underlying Smarty architecture. Notable is the introduction of core/, a new, required directory containing specialized and specific functionality previously bundled directly in the Smarty class. This abstraction has allowed for a reduction in the base smarty class footprint while fostering reuse of several common functions. These changes also lay the groundwork for future modularizations of the code base. Note to upgraders: All Smarty code is now contained in the libs/ directory hierarchy of the distribution. Remember to clear out the compiled and cached files anytime you update Smarty. It is recommended to also clear your accelerator cache and restart Apache. The following is of note to deployers, developers and those working directly with the base Smarty source code.