Just thought i'd update you all, i've installed the optifine mod, and it works a real treat.
My favourite features:
- higher fps
- now have 3x viewing distance and further chunk loading - so i load alot of the world around me, and can see super far in the distance - perfect for my mountain i'm building all over. As now I can see it all without the fog getting in the way.
- can change texture packs via the pause menu, rather than leaving and joining a server, perfect for testing out new packs and finding something good.
- lots and lots and lots of adjustable settings, i'm still playing around with these, but for those suffering laggy play, you can turn off alot of options and speed up your game.
So you could probably all benefit from givnig it a download. Just remember, if you are using MC Patcher, make sure you open MC, select unpatch minecraft - then install optifine