Picked up a beta version of a new modpack for Minecraft:
Feed The Beast.
What is it? Basically, its a collection of all the best Forge mods for Minecraft (IndustrialCraft, BuildCraft, RedPower, Thermal Expansion, ThaumCraft, etc) put together in one pack which is being updated and maintained either by the mod authors themselves, or with their permission. Like I said, its currently in beta, but it stands to be at least a serious competitor for Technic/Tekkit. Oh! Also, its got Forestry + Extra Bees. Haven't gotten around to working with that mod (mostly been working with BC and Thermal Expansion), but it looks...pretty damn cool.
The launcher is a little buggy, in regard to downloading the pack correctly, but the help section's got a fix for it, which is on the first page, last I saw.
All in all, it runs better than Technic, starts up faster, has fewer lag spikes, and includes such nifty things as the Portal Gun mod, which has become an indispensable part of my life. One last thing, its working off 1.4.2 'nilla Minecraft, so you've got all the nifty bits from there, too.
If you wanna check it out, hit up
direwolf20's YouTube channel. Got an entire server LP season dedicated to the SMP version of this pack, and I gotta tell ya, it looks fucking
amazing.