A whole new default icon theme has been created for 2.4. The icons comply with the Tango style guidelines so GIMP doesn't feel out of place on any of the supported platforms. Regardless of whether you run GIMP under Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X or Linux (GNOME, KDE or Xfce), GIMP provides a polished, consistent look.

This version includes improvements to:

Scalable Brushes
Selection Tools
Foreground Select Tool
Align Tool
Changes in menus
Improved display when zooming in or out
Support for file formats
* Support for Photoshop ABR brush format;
* Improved reading/writing EXIF in JPEG;
* Importing clipping paths in TIFF;
* Layer masks can be saved to PSD;
* 16/32 bit bitmaps and alpha-channel support in BMP;
* 24 bit and Vista icons can be opened and saved.