[XeTeX] ICU 3.8.1 vs 4.0?

[Jonathan Kew]

On 21 Aug 2008, at 10:31 PM, Vasile Gaburici wrote:

> Is there a reason why JK sets the svn version of XeTeX to compile with
> ICU 4.0, but TeXLive 2008 uses 3.8.1?

Because the update to 4.0 was done fairly recently, and in the  
interests of stability we did not want to make such a major change in  
the TeX Live source tree as it was getting close to release. For the  
vast majority of users, there will be no difference in behavior, as  
many of the significant fixes and improvements since 3.8.1 have been  
incorporated into xetex's patched version anyway.

The switch to 4.0 will be done in TeX Live at some point, but the  
benefits did not outweigh the costs/risks in the run-up to the 2008  
release.

JK