1.8 is amazing. It feels really nice. I was unsure about the food system at first, but cows drop 1-5 (often about 3) steaks each and spawn in abundance. I currently have about 60 cooked steaks. The new lighting system is the best thing by far, though. Torches now cast an eerie orange light, night time is blue and sunsets are smooth! Chests open now, too, in a nice addition.
The landscapes are fucking amazing. I feel like my house in a ravine is a speck in a huge world, rather than it being the centre of one. Biomes are huge and look wonderful. Deserts are daunting due to the endless seas of sand. Water bodies are much deeper and feel less like random puddles.
This is the view from just near my house into a hilly plain with a river at sunset. I felt like I needed to include all of the stuff I mentioned in my last paragraph in this shot.
EDIT: Here's another cool picture I took in a cave. It's not new to 1.8, but it's pretty impressive.
