Bumping with an update from notch's blog.
http://notch.tumblr.com/
Originally Posted by Notch
Multiplayer status update
Today, I implemented destroyed blocks dropping resources for all players and a whole bunch of infrastructure such as automatically sending entities in chunks when the player gets close, and removing them when they leave, and a very nice method for predicting block changes clientside in a secure way that can’t cause the game to go out of synch. I also finished up a whole lot of rendering stuff, such as animating when players move, interpolating positions and rotations, and displaying their names above player heads (semi transparent if hidden by a wall).
I also added support for whole bunch of fancy characters, like Å, ü, Ç and ê. I can’t add ALL characters, but if an important one is missing, let me know. I have space for another 100 characters or so.
Next up is support for inventory management, crafting, and item dropping. And chatting. Private testing is close, probably tomorrow or thursday. The public testing (with downloadable servers) is almost certainly coming within two weeks or so. I hope. :D
For those who don't know, This is not for the creative version of the game but the survival version of the game which you can only play if you have purchased minecraft.
Minecraft is $13 USD and after alpha version, it will be at least $20.
The best place you can be to try and get a spot for private testing is in the minecraft IRC. (#minecraft at irc.esper.net)