title: PHP mbstring.func_overload vs using mbstring functions
body: <p>I want to conform my site's string handling to support other languages per UTF-8. It seems that the best way to do this is to forsake all the standard string functions.</p>
  
  <p>So I have two options, I can set the <code>mbstring.func_overload</code> option in php.ini or I can go back over my code and just replace all the functions with <code>mb_*</code>. I would assume that the second option will be easier on people using my code as they won't have to change their sever config. (if they even can!)</p>
  
  <p>What about when PHP 6 comes out? Should that have any baring on my choice since it will support proper multibyte processing.</p>