What's new in Illustrator?

Adobe® Illustrator® CS6 software is powered by the new Adobe Mercury Performance System so you can work with speed and stability on large, complex files. A modern, updated interface streamlines daily tasks. Advanced creative tools enable you to capture your vision better than ever.

Work with precision, speed, and rock-solid stability on large, complex files in Adobe® Illustrator® CS6 software — powered by the Adobe Mercury Performance System. A newly modern interface streamlines daily tasks. Enjoy a new tracing engine, quickly design seamless patterns, and apply gradients to strokes.

Adobe Mercury Performance System

Work with precision, speed, and rock-solid stability on large, complex files thanks to a new performance system that powers Illustrator CS6. With native 64-bit support on Mac OS and Windows® you can access all the RAM on your computer to easily open, save, and export large files and preview demanding designs. Just about everything feels faster and more responsive.

Pattern creation

Easily create seamlessly tiled vector patterns. Experiment freely with different types of repeating patterns that can be edited at any time for maximum design flexibility.

New Image Trace

Convert raster images to editable vectors with a completely new tracing engine. Get clean lines, accurate fitting, and reliable results without using complex controls.

New efficient, flexible interface

Take fewer steps to accomplish daily tasks in a new, streamlined interface. Enjoy inline editing of layer names, precise color sampling, and UI brightness that's smoothly adjustable to match other Adobe tools.

Gradients on strokes

Apply gradients to your strokes — along the length, across the width, or within the stroke itself — all with complete control over gradient placement and opacity.

Inline editing in panels

Efficiently edit names in layers, swatches, brushes, artboards, and other panels directly in the panels themselves without using intermediate dialog boxes.

Gaussian Blur enhancement

See that Gaussian Blur and effects such as Drop Shadows and Glows are applied significantly faster than before. To improve accuracy, preview directly on the artboard rather than in a dialog box.

Color panel enhancements

Sample colors faster and more precisely using an expandable color spectrum in the Color panel. And now, copy and paste hex values into other applications more quickly.

Transform panel enhancements

Quickly access the popular Scale Strokes and Effects option, thanks to its new availability in the Transform panel.

Type panel improvements

Use arrow keys to change fonts in context for selected text. Glyphs for caps, superscripts, and more can now be accessed in one place — from the Character panel.

Dockable hidden tools

Tear off and dock previously hidden tools, such as the Shape and Pen tools. Dock tools horizontally or vertically for a more efficient workspace.

Workspaces with rooms

Move fluidly from workspace to workspace with support for rooms. Achieve consistency across your work areas and maintain layout changes until you actively reset them.

Control panel enhancements

Quickly find what you need in a more efficient Control panel, now with consistency across options, anchor point controls, clipping masks, envelope distortions, and more.

Transparency panel improvements

Create and work with opacity masks more easily, thanks to the new Make Mask/Release button that now displays the masking functionality in the Transparency panel.

True white canvas color

Set your Illustrator CS6 workspace canvas to white for fast color sampling when you need to quickly grab a pure white.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs6-creative-cloud-feature-tour-for-web/pattern-creation-in-illustrator-cs6/?sdid=JUMNB