context-specific "conversionService" bean may refer to annotation-configured converter beans (SPR-6800)

introduced BeanDefinitionRegistryPostProcessor extension to BeanFactoryPostProcessor; @Configuration classes support definition of BeanFactoryPostProcessor beans as well (SPR-6455, SPR-6611)

removed getBeansWithAnnotation(Class,boolean,boolean) method from ListableBeanFactory; reimplemented getBeansWithAnnotation(Class) to avoid use of getBeanNamesForType(Object.class)

fixed LifecycleProcessor lookup in a Spring Dynamic Modules context (SPR-6356); moved ConversionService lookup to prepareBeanFactory

MergedBeanDefinitionPostProcessors apply after all other post-processors (for @PostConstruct to be invoked after other BPPs; SPR-6066)

SPR-6308 - Spring Expression Language creates systemProperties bean calling System.getProperties() which in enterprise shared containers is locked down

SPR-5507 Added SmartLifecycle interface with 'isAutoStartup' method and added an 'onRefresh' method to the LifecycleProcessor.

SPR-5507 Factored out Lifecycle management to a LifecycleProcessor strategy with the default implementation as DefaultLifecycleProcessor. The 'lifecycleProcessor' bean may be defined to override the default.

support for default "conversionService" bean in an ApplicationContext; revised formatting package, now integrated with DataBinder and AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter; revised AccessControlContext access from BeanFactory

Servlet/Portlet ApplicationContexts use a specific id based on servlet/portlet name; DefaultListableBeanFactory references are serializable now when initialized with an id; scoped proxies are serializable now, for web scopes as well as for singleton beans; injected request/session references are serializable proxies for the current request now

revised support for annotated factory methods (merged @FactoryMethod functionality into JavaConfig facility)

ApplicationListener beans get obtained on demand, supporting non-singletons as well; ApplicationListeners will be called in the order according to the Ordered contract; generified ApplicationListener interface

EL container integration; support for contextual objects; removal of deprecated Spring 2.0 functionality; Java 5 code style