I am classifying this as a bug as it only affects the latest snapshots which added the post-processing effects:
I can no longer force the game to use 4x anti-aliasing with super-sampling. This is important to me as textures like leaves will "shimmer" as the viewpoint moves.
When I revert the game version to 1.6.2 or 1.6.4, anti-aliasing and super-sampling function as intended.
When I return to the latest snapshot versions, AA and SS again no longer function.
I have attempted forcing AA and SS through the nVidia graphics drivers through several methods: globally, for minecraft.exe, minecraft launcher, javaw.exe and java.exe to no effect. "Disabling" or "Enabling" post-processing effects in 13w38a also has no effect (this button was removed in 13w38c). I have rebooted my system and game several times in several configurations.
The new "super-secret" filters are inadequate for anti-aliasing support. The provided FXAA filter only blurs the image, and the 2xAA filter adds inadequate anti-aliasing (shimmering) and adds minor blurring of the image. The 4x mip-mapping helps somewhat, but isn't enough to fix shimmering for nearby objects.
Edit: 10/10/13 For 13w41a - There is still no improvement to AA, and in fact things have gotten worse as there are now lines between every block starting at moderate distance.
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Ah, good, that issue was reported too. Can totally confirm this, forcing AA/SS (which gives far better visual results in-game) in the NVIDIA Driver Settings no longer works as of 13w38a.
GPU: Gainward GeForce GTX 570 Phantom
Driver: NVIDIA Graphics Driver 314.07
PS: It worked fine before 13w38a by forcing javaw.exe to use AA/SS.
Also, to make one thing clear (if anyone asks):
Turning off Mipmapping, Anisotropic Filtering and Shaders in-game does NOT fix the problem.
4x msaa and 4x transparency supersampling through Nvidia Control Panel works far better at eliminating graininess than mipmapping and anisotropic filtering do. With the MSAA and TRSSAA, edges are smoothed extremely well, there is no graininess at a distance, and the texture quality does not noticeably decline at a distance. With in game FXAA combined with mipmapping and anisotropic filtering, edges are blurred and muddled instead of smoothed, and although graininess is eliminated, you can clearly see the texture quality drop off as you look further away from you.
TL;DR:
4X MSAA + 4X TRSSAA through Nvidia Control Panel > FXAA + MipMapping + Anisotropic Filtering in-game
I second this. I've been using hardware AA and SS since I upgraded my computer back in 2012, and now with the latest snapshot it bugs out and renders white lines between blocks. The new in-game AA seems like it does nothing but blur things a little bit, meaning it's useless. I really hope this gets fixed or maybe they add in an option to disble the new filters once the full update is out, I don't think I can bare to play without proper AA, it would feel as awful as reducing the FOV from 100 to default.