ATOM serves as the base framework for future WordPress themes I’ll be designing. Some features/Highlights of the core:

    • A very extensible code base
    • Context-aware layout selection
    • Extensive support for child themes (auto-creation, better template routing)
    • Advanced theme settings panel with live preview for design-related tweaks
    • Improved WordPress widgets:
      • Archives with CPT support
      • Blog list (multi-site only) with ajax support
      • Calendar with ajax and CPT support
      • Links (replaces “blogroll”)
      • Menu (replaces “custom menu), allows you to create expand/collapse lists
      • Login form with ajax support
      • Pages
      • Posts, with ajax, CPT and templating support
      • Recent Comments, with ajax and templating support
      • Splitter, a helper widget that’s able to group other widgets in columns
      • Tabs, helper widget that groups arbitrary widgets in tabs, extremely flexible
      • A more customizable Tag Cloud widget
      • Terms (replaces “categories”), with support for custom taxonomies and templating
      • Text widget with the ability to edit in visual mode
      • Top Commenters with templating support
      • Twitter feed
      • Users, with ajax and templating support
    • Relevant shortcodes, most important:
      • [widget] – drop arbitrary widgets anywhere
      • [query] – custom queries with templating support within the editor
    • Modules that can further extend functionality: Featured Gallery, Ad management
    • Many more features :)