Index: wp-admin/includes/schema.php
===================================================================
--- wp-admin/includes/schema.php	(revision 9294)
+++ wp-admin/includes/schema.php	(working copy)
@@ -288,6 +288,12 @@
 	add_option('image_default_align', '');
 	add_option('close_comments_for_old_posts', 0);
 	add_option('close_comments_days_old', 14);
+	add_option('thread_comments', 0);
+	add_option('thread_comments_depth', 5);
+	add_option('page_comments', 1);
+	add_option('comments_per_page', 10);
+	add_option('default_comments_page', 'newest');
+	add_option('comment_order', 'asc');
 
 	// Delete unused options
 	$unusedoptions = array ('blodotgsping_url', 'bodyterminator', 'emailtestonly', 'phoneemail_separator', 'smilies_directory', 'subjectprefix', 'use_bbcode', 'use_blodotgsping', 'use_phoneemail', 'use_quicktags', 'use_weblogsping', 'weblogs_cache_file', 'use_preview', 'use_htmltrans', 'smilies_directory', 'fileupload_allowedusers', 'use_phoneemail', 'default_post_status', 'default_post_category', 'archive_mode', 'time_difference', 'links_minadminlevel', 'links_use_adminlevels', 'links_rating_type', 'links_rating_char', 'links_rating_ignore_zero', 'links_rating_single_image', 'links_rating_image0', 'links_rating_image1', 'links_rating_image2', 'links_rating_image3', 'links_rating_image4', 'links_rating_image5', 'links_rating_image6', 'links_rating_image7', 'links_rating_image8', 'links_rating_image9', 'weblogs_cacheminutes', 'comment_allowed_tags', 'search_engine_friendly_urls', 'default_geourl_lat', 'default_geourl_lon', 'use_default_geourl', 'weblogs_xml_url', 'new_users_can_blog', '_wpnonce', '_wp_http_referer', 'Update', 'action', 'rich_editing', 'autosave_interval', 'deactivated_plugins');
Index: wp-admin/options-discussion.php
===================================================================
--- wp-admin/options-discussion.php	(revision 9294)
+++ wp-admin/options-discussion.php	(working copy)
@@ -43,11 +43,17 @@
 <input name="default_comment_status" type="checkbox" id="default_comment_status" value="open" <?php checked('open', get_option('default_comment_status')); ?> />
 <?php _e('Allow people to post comments on the article') ?></label>
 <br />
+<small><em><?php echo '(' . __('These settings may be overridden for individual articles.') . ')'; ?></em></small>
+</fieldset></td>
+</tr>
+<tr valign="top">
+<th scope="row"><?php _e('Other comment settings') ?></th>
+<td><fieldset><legend class="hidden"><?php _e('Other comment settings') ?></legend>
 <label for="require_name_email"><input type="checkbox" name="require_name_email" id="require_name_email" value="1" <?php checked('1', get_option('require_name_email')); ?> /> <?php _e('Comment author must fill out name and e-mail') ?></label>
 <br />
 <label for="close_comments_for_old_posts">
 <input name="close_comments_for_old_posts" type="checkbox" id="close_comments_for_old_posts" value="1" <?php checked('1', get_option('close_comments_for_old_posts')); ?> />
-<?php printf( __('Close comments on articles older than %s days'), '</label><input name="close_comments_days_old" type="text" id="close_comments_days_old" value="' . attribute_escape(get_option('close_comments_days_old')) . '" size="3" />') ?>
+<?php printf( __('Automatically close comments on articles older than %s days'), '</label><input name="close_comments_days_old" type="text" id="close_comments_days_old" value="' . attribute_escape(get_option('close_comments_days_old')) . '" size="3" />') ?>
 <br />
 <label for="thread_comments">
 <input name="thread_comments" type="checkbox" id="thread_comments" value="1" <?php checked('1', get_option('thread_comments')); ?> />
@@ -68,9 +74,29 @@
 ?><br />
 <label for="page_comments">
 <input name="page_comments" type="checkbox" id="page_comments" value="1" <?php checked('1', get_option('page_comments')); ?> />
-<?php printf( __('Break comments into pages with %s comments per page'), '</label><input name="comments_per_page" type="text" id="comments_per_page" value="' . attribute_escape(get_option('comments_per_page')) . '" size="3" />') ?>
+<?php
+
+$default_comments_page = '</label><select name="default_comments_page" id="default_comments_page"><option value="newest"';
+if ( 'newest' == get_option('default_comments_page') ) $default_comments_page .= ' selected="selected"';
+$default_comments_page .= '>' . __('last') . '</option><option value="oldest"';
+if ( 'oldest' == get_option('default_comments_page') ) $default_comments_page .= ' selected="selected"';
+$default_comments_page .= '>' . __('first') . '</option></select>';
+
+printf( __('Break comments into pages with %1$s comments per page and the %2$s page displayed by default'), '</label><input name="comments_per_page" type="text" id="comments_per_page" value="' . attribute_escape(get_option('comments_per_page')) . '" size="3" />', $default_comments_page );
+
+?>
 <br />
-<small><em><?php echo '(' . __('These settings may be overridden for individual articles.') . ')'; ?></em></small>
+<label for="comment_order"><?php
+
+$comment_order = '<select name="comment_order" id="comment_order"><option value="asc"';
+if ( 'asc' == get_option('comment_order') ) $comment_order .= ' selected="selected"';
+$comment_order .= '>' . __('older') . '</option><option value="desc"';
+if ( 'desc' == get_option('comment_order') ) $comment_order .= ' selected="selected"';
+$comment_order .= '>' . __('newer') . '</option></select>';
+
+printf( __('Comments should be displayed with the %s comments at the top of each page'), $comment_order );
+
+?></label>
 </fieldset></td>
 </tr>
 <tr valign="top">
Index: wp-admin/options.php
===================================================================
--- wp-admin/options.php	(revision 9294)
+++ wp-admin/options.php	(working copy)
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 $whitelist_options = array(
 	'general' => array('blogname', 'blogdescription', 'admin_email', 'users_can_register', 'gmt_offset', 'date_format', 'time_format', 'start_of_week', 'comment_registration', 'default_role' ),
-	'discussion' => array( 'default_pingback_flag', 'default_ping_status', 'default_comment_status', 'comments_notify', 'moderation_notify', 'comment_moderation', 'require_name_email', 'comment_whitelist', 'comment_max_links', 'moderation_keys', 'blacklist_keys', 'show_avatars', 'avatar_rating', 'avatar_default', 'close_comments_for_old_posts', 'close_comments_days_old', 'thread_comments', 'thread_comments_depth', 'page_comments', 'comments_per_page' ),
+	'discussion' => array( 'default_pingback_flag', 'default_ping_status', 'default_comment_status', 'comments_notify', 'moderation_notify', 'comment_moderation', 'require_name_email', 'comment_whitelist', 'comment_max_links', 'moderation_keys', 'blacklist_keys', 'show_avatars', 'avatar_rating', 'avatar_default', 'close_comments_for_old_posts', 'close_comments_days_old', 'thread_comments', 'thread_comments_depth', 'page_comments', 'comments_per_page', 'default_comments_page', 'comment_order' ),
 	'misc' => array( 'hack_file', 'use_linksupdate', 'uploads_use_yearmonth_folders', 'upload_path' ),
 	'media' => array( 'thumbnail_size_w', 'thumbnail_size_h', 'thumbnail_crop', 'medium_size_w', 'medium_size_h', 'large_size_w', 'large_size_h', 'image_default_size', 'image_default_align', 'image_default_link_type' ),
 	'privacy' => array( 'blog_public' ),
Index: wp-comments-post.php
===================================================================
--- wp-comments-post.php	(revision 9294)
+++ wp-comments-post.php	(working copy)
@@ -79,7 +79,10 @@
 	setcookie('comment_author_url_' . COOKIEHASH, clean_url($comment->comment_author_url), time() + 30000000, COOKIEPATH, COOKIE_DOMAIN);
 }
 
-$location = ( empty($_POST['redirect_to']) ? get_permalink($comment_post_ID) : $_POST['redirect_to'] ) . '#comment-' . $comment_id;
+if ( empty($_POST['redirect_to']) )
+	$postlink = ( 'newest' == get_option('default_comments_page') ) ? get_permalink($comment_post_ID) : add_query_arg( 'cpage', get_comment_pages_count( get_comments( array( 'post_id' => $comment_post_ID ) ) ), get_permalink($comment_post_ID) );
+
+$location = ( empty($_POST['redirect_to']) ? $postlink : $_POST['redirect_to'] ) . '#comment-' . $comment_id;
 $location = apply_filters('comment_post_redirect', $location, $comment);
 
 wp_redirect($location);
Index: wp-includes/classes.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/classes.php	(revision 9294)
+++ wp-includes/classes.php	(working copy)
@@ -985,6 +985,13 @@
 
 		// flat display
 		if ( -1 == $max_depth ) {
+			if ( !empty($args[0]['reverse_top_level']) ) {
+				$elements = array_reverse( $elements );
+				$oldstart = $start;
+				$start = $total_top - $end;
+				$end = $total_top - $oldstart;
+			}
+
 			$empty_array = array();
 			foreach ( $elements as $e ) {
 				$count++;
@@ -1017,7 +1024,18 @@
 		else
 			$end = $total_top;
 
-		foreach( $top_level_elements as $e ){
+		if ( !empty($args[0]['reverse_top_level']) ) {
+			$top_level_elements = array_reverse( $top_level_elements );
+			$oldstart = $start;
+			$start = $total_top - $end;
+			$end = $total_top - $oldstart;
+		}
+		if ( !empty($args[0]['reverse_children']) ) {
+			foreach ( $children_elements as $parent => $children )
+				$children_elements[$parent] = array_reverse( $children );
+		}
+
+		foreach ( $top_level_elements as $e ) {
 			$count++;
 
 			//for the last page, need to unset earlier children in order to keep track of orphans
Index: wp-includes/comment-template.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/comment-template.php	(revision 9294)
+++ wp-includes/comment-template.php	(working copy)
@@ -762,6 +762,9 @@
 		$comments_by_type = &$wp_query->comments_by_type;
 	}
 
+	if ( '' == get_query_var('cpage') && get_option('page_comments') && 'newest' == get_option('default_comments_page') ) 
+		set_query_var( 'cpage', get_comment_pages_count() );
+
 	define('COMMENTS_TEMPLATE', true);
 
 	$include = apply_filters('comments_template', STYLESHEETPATH . $file );
@@ -1122,8 +1125,8 @@
  * @since 2.7.0
  * @uses Walker_Comment
  *
- * @param $args string|array Formatting options
- * @param $comments array Optional array of comment objects.  Defaults to $wp_query->comments
+ * @param string|array $args Formatting options
+ * @param array $comments Optional array of comment objects.  Defaults to $wp_query->comments
  */
 function wp_list_comments($args = array(), $comments = null ) {
 	global $wp_query, $comment_alt, $comment_depth, $comment_thread_alt;
@@ -1132,7 +1135,7 @@
 	$comment_depth = 1;
 
 	$defaults = array('walker' => null, 'depth' => '', 'style' => 'ul', 'callback' => null, 'end-callback' => null, 'type' => 'all',
-		'page' => get_query_var('cpage'), 'per_page' => '', 'avatar_size' => 32);
+		'page' => '', 'per_page' => '', 'avatar_size' => 32, 'reverse_top_level' => '', 'reverse_children' => '');
 
 	$r = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
 
@@ -1142,10 +1145,6 @@
 	if ( empty($r['per_page']) ) {
 		$r['per_page'] = 0;
 		$r['page'] = 0;
-	} else {
-		$r['page'] = intval($r['page']);
-		if ( empty($r['page']) )
-			$r['page'] = 1;
 	}
 
 	if ( '' === $r['depth'] ) {
@@ -1155,6 +1154,23 @@
 			$r['depth'] = -1;
 	}
 
+	if ( '' === $r['page'] ) {
+		if ( empty($comments) ) {
+			$r['page'] = get_query_var('cpage');
+		} else {
+			$threaded = ( -1 == $r['depth'] ) ? false : true;
+			$r['page'] = ( 'newest' == get_option('default_comments_page') ) ? get_comment_pages_count($comments, $r['per_page'], $threaded) : 1;
+			set_query_var( 'cpage', $r['page'] );
+		}
+	}
+	// Validation check
+	$r['page'] = intval($r['page']);
+	if ( 0 == $r['page'] && 0 != $r['per_page'] )
+		$r['page'] = 1;
+
+	if ( '' == $r['reverse_top_level'] )
+		$r['reverse_top_level'] = ( 'asc' == get_option('comment_order') ) ? FALSE : TRUE;
+
 	extract( $r, EXTR_SKIP );
 
 	if ( empty($walker) )
Index: wp-includes/comment.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/comment.php	(revision 9294)
+++ wp-includes/comment.php	(working copy)
@@ -481,6 +481,45 @@
 }
 
 /**
+ * Calculate the total number of comment pages.
+ *
+ * @since 2.7.0
+ *
+ * @param array $comments Optional array of comment objects.  Defaults to $wp_query->comments
+ * @param int $per_page Optional comments per page.
+ * @param boolean $threaded Optional control over flat or threaded comments.
+ * @return int Number of comment pages.
+ */
+function get_comment_pages_count( $comments = null, $per_page = null, $threaded = null ) {
+	global $wp_query;
+
+	if ( !$comments || !is_array($comments) )
+		$comments = $wp_query->comments;
+
+	if ( empty($comments) )
+		return 0;
+
+	if ( !isset($per_page) )
+		$per_page = (int) get_query_var('comments_per_page');
+	if ( 0 === $per_page )
+		$per_page = (int) get_option('comments_per_page');
+	if ( 0 === $per_page )
+		return 1;
+
+	if ( !isset($threaded) )
+		$threaded = get_option('thread_comments');
+
+	if ( $threaded ) {
+		$walker = new Walker_Comment;
+		$count = ceil( $walker->get_number_of_root_elements( $comments ) / $per_page );
+	} else {
+		$count = ceil( count( $comments ) / $per_page );
+	}
+
+	return $count;
+}
+
+/**
  * Does comment contain blacklisted characters or words.
  *
  * @since 1.5.0
Index: wp-includes/link-template.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/link-template.php	(revision 9294)
+++ wp-includes/link-template.php	(working copy)
@@ -1135,7 +1135,7 @@
  * @param int $pagenum Optional. Page number.
  * @return string
  */
-function get_comments_pagenum_link($pagenum = 1) {
+function get_comments_pagenum_link( $pagenum = 1, $max_page = 0 ) {
 	global $wp_rewrite;
 
 	$pagenum = (int) $pagenum;
@@ -1151,11 +1151,13 @@
 
 	$base = trailingslashit( get_bloginfo( 'home' ) );
 
-	if ( $pagenum > 1 ) {
+	$result = $base . $request;
+	
+	if ( 'newest' == get_option('default_comments_page') ) {
+		if ( $pagenum != $max_page )
+			$result = add_query_arg( 'cpage', $pagenum, $base . $request );
+	} elseif ( $pagenum > 1 )
 		$result = add_query_arg( 'cpage', $pagenum, $base . $request );
-	} else {
-		$result = $base . $request;
-	}
 
 	$result .= '#comments';
 
@@ -1194,7 +1196,7 @@
 	if ( empty($label) )
 		$label = __('&raquo; Newer Comments');
 
-	echo '<a href="' . clean_url(get_comments_pagenum_link($nextpage));
+	echo '<a href="' . clean_url( get_comments_pagenum_link( $nextpage, $max_page ) );
 	$attr = apply_filters( 'next_comments_link_attributes', '' );
 	echo "\" $attr>". preg_replace('/&([^#])(?![a-z]{1,8};)/', '&#038;$1', $label) .'</a>';
 }
