--- a/hgext/bugzilla.py
+++ b/hgext/bugzilla.py
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ class bugzilla(object):
         mapfile = self.ui.config('bugzilla', 'style')
         tmpl = self.ui.config('bugzilla', 'template')
         t = cmdutil.changeset_templater(self.ui, self.repo,
-                                        False, None, mapfile, False)
+                                        False, mapfile, False)
         if not mapfile and not tmpl:
             tmpl = _('changeset {node|short} in repo {root} refers '
                      'to bug {bug}.\ndetails:\n\t{desc|tabindent}')

--- a/hgext/notify.py
+++ b/hgext/notify.py
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ class notifier(object):
         template = (self.ui.config('notify', hooktype) or
                     self.ui.config('notify', 'template'))
         self.t = cmdutil.changeset_templater(self.ui, self.repo,
-                                             False, None, mapfile, False)
+                                             False, mapfile, False)
         if not mapfile and not template:
             template = deftemplates.get(hooktype) or single_template
         if template:

--- a/mercurial/cmdutil.py
+++ b/mercurial/cmdutil.py
@@ -199,12 +199,11 @@ def addremove(repo, pats=[], opts={}, wl
 class changeset_printer(object):
     '''show changeset information when templating not requested.'''
 
-    def __init__(self, ui, repo, patch, brinfo, buffered):
+    def __init__(self, ui, repo, patch, buffered):
         self.ui = ui
         self.repo = repo
         self.buffered = buffered
         self.patch = patch
-        self.brinfo = brinfo
         self.header = {}
         self.hunk = {}
         self.lastheader = None
@@ -268,11 +267,6 @@ class changeset_printer(object):
         for parent in parents:
             self.ui.write(_("parent:      %d:%s\n") % parent)
 
-        if self.brinfo:
-            br = self.repo.branchlookup([changenode])
-            if br:
-                self.ui.write(_("branch:      %s\n") % " ".join(br[changenode]))
-
         if self.ui.debugflag:
             self.ui.write(_("manifest:    %d:%s\n") %
                           (self.repo.manifest.rev(changes[0]), hex(changes[0])))
@@ -320,8 +314,8 @@ class changeset_printer(object):
 class changeset_templater(changeset_printer):
     '''format changeset information.'''
 
-    def __init__(self, ui, repo, patch, brinfo, mapfile, buffered):
-        changeset_printer.__init__(self, ui, repo, patch, brinfo, buffered)
+    def __init__(self, ui, repo, patch, mapfile, buffered):
+        changeset_printer.__init__(self, ui, repo, patch, buffered)
         self.t = templater.templater(mapfile, templater.common_filters,
                                      cache={'parent': '{rev}:{node|short} ',
                                             'manifest': '{rev}:{node|short}',
@@ -407,12 +401,6 @@ class changeset_templater(changeset_prin
             if branch:
                 branch = util.tolocal(branch)
                 return showlist('branch', [branch], plural='branches', **args)
-            # add old style branches if requested
-            if self.brinfo:
-                br = self.repo.branchlookup([changenode])
-                if changenode in br:
-                    return showlist('branch', br[changenode],
-                                    plural='branches', **args)
 
         def showparents(**args):
             parents = [[('rev', log.rev(p)), ('node', hex(p))]
@@ -526,11 +514,6 @@ def show_changeset(ui, repo, opts, buffe
     if opts.get('patch'):
         patch = matchfn or util.always
 
-    br = None
-    if opts.get('branches'):
-        ui.warn(_("the --branches option is deprecated, "
-                  "please use 'hg branches' instead\n"))
-        br = True
     tmpl = opts.get('template')
     mapfile = None
     if tmpl:
@@ -552,12 +535,12 @@ def show_changeset(ui, repo, opts, buffe
                            or templater.templatepath(mapfile))
                 if mapname: mapfile = mapname
         try:
-            t = changeset_templater(ui, repo, patch, br, mapfile, buffered)
+            t = changeset_templater(ui, repo, patch, mapfile, buffered)
         except SyntaxError, inst:
             raise util.Abort(inst.args[0])
         if tmpl: t.use_template(tmpl)
         return t
-    return changeset_printer(ui, repo, patch, br, buffered)
+    return changeset_printer(ui, repo, patch, buffered)
 
 def finddate(ui, repo, date):
     """Find the tipmost changeset that matches the given date spec"""

--- a/mercurial/commands.py
+++ b/mercurial/commands.py
@@ -240,8 +240,7 @@ def backout(ui, repo, rev, **opts):
     if op1 != node:
         if opts['merge']:
             ui.status(_('merging with changeset %s\n') % nice(op1))
-            n = _lookup(repo, hex(op1))
-            hg.merge(repo, n)
+            hg.merge(repo, hex(op1))
         else:
             ui.status(_('the backout changeset is a new head - '
                         'do not forget to merge\n'))
@@ -1698,7 +1697,6 @@ def log(ui, repo, *pats, **opts):
     if opts["date"]:
         df = util.matchdate(opts["date"])
 
-
     displayer = cmdutil.show_changeset(ui, repo, opts, True, matchfn)
     for st, rev, fns in changeiter:
         if st == 'add':
@@ -1763,7 +1761,7 @@ def manifest(ui, repo, rev=None):
             ui.write("%3s " % (m.execf(f) and "755" or "644"))
         ui.write("%s\n" % f)
 
-def merge(ui, repo, node=None, force=None, branch=None):
+def merge(ui, repo, node=None, force=None):
     """Merge working directory with another revision
 
     Merge the contents of the current working directory and the
@@ -1777,9 +1775,7 @@ def merge(ui, repo, node=None, force=Non
     revision to merge with must be provided.
     """
 
-    if node or branch:
-        node = _lookup(repo, node, branch)
-    else:
+    if not node:
         heads = repo.heads()
         if len(heads) > 2:
             raise util.Abort(_('repo has %d heads - '
@@ -2478,7 +2474,7 @@ def unbundle(ui, repo, fname, **opts):
     modheads = repo.addchangegroup(gen, 'unbundle', 'bundle:' + fname)
     return postincoming(ui, repo, modheads, opts['update'])
 
-def update(ui, repo, node=None, clean=False, branch=None, date=None):
+def update(ui, repo, node=None, clean=False, date=None):
     """update or merge working directory
 
     Update the working directory to the specified revision.
@@ -2498,36 +2494,11 @@ def update(ui, repo, node=None, clean=Fa
             raise util.Abort(_("you can't specify a revision and a date"))
         node = cmdutil.finddate(ui, repo, date)
 
-    node = _lookup(repo, node, branch)
     if clean:
         return hg.clean(repo, node)
     else:
         return hg.update(repo, node)
 
-def _lookup(repo, node, branch=None):
-    if branch:
-        repo.ui.warn(_("the --branch option is deprecated, "
-                       "please use 'hg branch' instead\n"))
-        br = repo.branchlookup(branch=branch)
-        found = []
-        for x in br:
-            if branch in br[x]:
-                found.append(x)
-        if len(found) > 1:
-            repo.ui.warn(_("Found multiple heads for %s\n") % branch)
-            for x in found:
-                cmdutil.show_changeset(ui, repo, {}).show(changenode=x)
-            raise util.Abort("")
-        if len(found) == 1:
-            node = found[0]
-            repo.ui.warn(_("Using head %s for branch %s\n")
-                         % (short(node), branch))
-        else:
-            raise util.Abort(_("branch %s not found") % branch)
-    else:
-        node = node and repo.lookup(node) or repo.changelog.tip()
-    return node
-
 def verify(ui, repo):
     """verify the integrity of the repository
 
@@ -2733,8 +2704,7 @@ table = {
          _('hg grep [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILE]...')),
     "heads":
         (heads,
-         [('b', 'branches', None, _('show branches (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
+         [('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
           ('r', 'rev', '', _('show only heads which are descendants of rev')),
           ('', 'template', '', _('display with template'))],
          _('hg heads [-r REV]')),
@@ -2745,7 +2715,7 @@ table = {
          [('p', 'strip', 1,
            _('directory strip option for patch. This has the same\n'
              'meaning as the corresponding patch option')),
-          ('b', 'base', '', _('base path (DEPRECATED)')),
+          ('b', 'base', '', _('base path')),
           ('f', 'force', None,
            _('skip check for outstanding uncommitted changes'))] + commitopts,
          _('hg import [-p NUM] [-m MESSAGE] [-f] PATCH...')),
@@ -2775,8 +2745,7 @@ table = {
          _('hg locate [OPTION]... [PATTERN]...')),
     "^log|history":
         (log,
-         [('b', 'branches', None, _('show branches (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('f', 'follow', None,
+         [('f', 'follow', None,
            _('follow changeset history, or file history across copies and renames')),
           ('', 'follow-first', None,
            _('only follow the first parent of merge changesets')),
@@ -2797,8 +2766,7 @@ table = {
     "manifest": (manifest, [], _('hg manifest [REV]')),
     "merge":
         (merge,
-         [('b', 'branch', '', _('merge with head of a specific branch (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('f', 'force', None, _('force a merge with outstanding changes'))],
+         [('f', 'force', None, _('force a merge with outstanding changes'))],
          _('hg merge [-f] [REV]')),
     "outgoing|out": (outgoing,
          [('M', 'no-merges', None, _('do not show merges')),
@@ -2813,8 +2781,7 @@ table = {
          _('hg outgoing [-M] [-p] [-n] [-r REV]... [DEST]')),
     "^parents":
         (parents,
-         [('b', 'branches', None, _('show branches (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('r', 'rev', '', _('show parents from the specified rev')),
+         [('r', 'rev', '', _('show parents from the specified rev')),
           ('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
           ('', 'template', '', _('display with template'))],
          _('hg parents [-r REV] [FILE]')),
@@ -2916,8 +2883,7 @@ table = {
     "tags": (tags, [], _('hg tags')),
     "tip":
         (tip,
-         [('b', 'branches', None, _('show branches (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
+         [('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
           ('p', 'patch', None, _('show patch')),
           ('', 'template', '', _('display with template'))],
          _('hg tip [-p]')),
@@ -2928,9 +2894,7 @@ table = {
          _('hg unbundle [-u] FILE')),
     "^update|up|checkout|co":
         (update,
-         [('b', 'branch', '',
-           _('checkout the head of a specific branch (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('C', 'clean', None, _('overwrite locally modified files')),
+         [('C', 'clean', None, _('overwrite locally modified files')),
           ('d', 'date', '', _('tipmost revision matching date'))],
          _('hg update [-C] [REV]')),
     "verify": (verify, [], _('hg verify')),

--- a/mercurial/localrepo.py
+++ b/mercurial/localrepo.py
@@ -993,112 +993,6 @@ class localrepository(repo.repository):
         heads.sort()
         return [n for (r, n) in heads]
 
-    # branchlookup returns a dict giving a list of branches for
-    # each head.  A branch is defined as the tag of a node or
-    # the branch of the node's parents.  If a node has multiple
-    # branch tags, tags are eliminated if they are visible from other
-    # branch tags.
-    #
-    # So, for this graph:  a->b->c->d->e
-    #                       \         /
-    #                        aa -----/
-    # a has tag 2.6.12
-    # d has tag 2.6.13
-    # e would have branch tags for 2.6.12 and 2.6.13.  Because the node
-    # for 2.6.12 can be reached from the node 2.6.13, that is eliminated
-    # from the list.
-    #
-    # It is possible that more than one head will have the same branch tag.
-    # callers need to check the result for multiple heads under the same
-    # branch tag if that is a problem for them (ie checkout of a specific
-    # branch).
-    #
-    # passing in a specific branch will limit the depth of the search
-    # through the parents.  It won't limit the branches returned in the
-    # result though.
-    def branchlookup(self, heads=None, branch=None):
-        if not heads:
-            heads = self.heads()
-        headt = [ h for h in heads ]
-        chlog = self.changelog
-        branches = {}
-        merges = []
-        seenmerge = {}
-
-        # traverse the tree once for each head, recording in the branches
-        # dict which tags are visible from this head.  The branches
-        # dict also records which tags are visible from each tag
-        # while we traverse.
-        while headt or merges:
-            if merges:
-                n, found = merges.pop()
-                visit = [n]
-            else:
-                h = headt.pop()
-                visit = [h]
-                found = [h]
-                seen = {}
-            while visit:
-                n = visit.pop()
-                if n in seen:
-                    continue
-                pp = chlog.parents(n)
-                tags = self.nodetags(n)
-                if tags:
-                    for x in tags:
-                        if x == 'tip':
-                            continue
-                        for f in found:
-                            branches.setdefault(f, {})[n] = 1
-                        branches.setdefault(n, {})[n] = 1
-                        break
-                    if n not in found:
-                        found.append(n)
-                    if branch in tags:
-                        continue
-                seen[n] = 1
-                if pp[1] != nullid and n not in seenmerge:
-                    merges.append((pp[1], [x for x in found]))
-                    seenmerge[n] = 1
-                if pp[0] != nullid:
-                    visit.append(pp[0])
-        # traverse the branches dict, eliminating branch tags from each
-        # head that are visible from another branch tag for that head.
-        out = {}
-        viscache = {}
-        for h in heads:
-            def visible(node):
-                if node in viscache:
-                    return viscache[node]
-                ret = {}
-                visit = [node]
-                while visit:
-                    x = visit.pop()
-                    if x in viscache:
-                        ret.update(viscache[x])
-                    elif x not in ret:
-                        ret[x] = 1
-                        if x in branches:
-                            visit[len(visit):] = branches[x].keys()
-                viscache[node] = ret
-                return ret
-            if h not in branches:
-                continue
-            # O(n^2), but somewhat limited.  This only searches the
-            # tags visible from a specific head, not all the tags in the
-            # whole repo.
-            for b in branches[h]:
-                vis = False
-                for bb in branches[h].keys():
-                    if b != bb:
-                        if b in visible(bb):
-                            vis = True
-                            break
-                if not vis:
-                    l = out.setdefault(h, [])
-                    l[len(l):] = self.nodetags(b)
-        return out
-
     def branches(self, nodes):
         if not nodes:
             nodes = [self.changelog.tip()]

--- a/mercurial/merge.py
+++ b/mercurial/merge.py
@@ -441,6 +441,9 @@ def update(repo, node, branchmerge, forc
     wlock = working dir lock, if already held
     """
 
+    if node is None:
+        node = "tip"
+
     if not wlock:
         wlock = repo.wlock()
 

deleted file mode 100755
--- a/tests/test-branch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-#
-# test for branch handling
-#
-# XXX: need more tests
-
-hg init
-echo a > a
-echo b > b
-hg ci -A -m 0 -d "1000000 0"
-echo aa > a
-echo bb > b
-hg ci -m 1 -d "1000000 0"
-hg tag -l foo
-hg update 0
-hg parents -b 
-
-# test update
-hg update -b foo
-hg parents
-
-# test merge
-hg update 0
-echo c > c
-hg ci -A -m 0.0 -d "1000000 0"
-hg merge -b foo
-hg parents -b 
-
-# re-test with more branches
-hg update -C 0
-echo d > d
-hg ci -A -m 0.0 -d "1000000 0"
-hg merge -b foo
-hg parents -b 

deleted file mode 100644
--- a/tests/test-branch.out
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-adding a
-adding b
-2 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
-the --branches option is deprecated, please use 'hg branches' instead
-changeset:   0:b544c4ac4389
-user:        test
-date:        Mon Jan 12 13:46:40 1970 +0000
-summary:     0
-
-the --branch option is deprecated, please use 'hg branch' instead
-Using head f4ac749470f2 for branch foo
-2 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
-changeset:   1:f4ac749470f2
-tag:         foo
-tag:         tip
-user:        test
-date:        Mon Jan 12 13:46:40 1970 +0000
-summary:     1
-
-2 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
-adding c
-the --branch option is deprecated, please use 'hg branch' instead
-Using head f4ac749470f2 for branch foo
-2 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
-(branch merge, don't forget to commit)
-the --branches option is deprecated, please use 'hg branches' instead
-changeset:   2:1505d56ee00e
-tag:         tip
-parent:      0:b544c4ac4389
-user:        test
-date:        Mon Jan 12 13:46:40 1970 +0000
-summary:     0.0
-
-changeset:   1:f4ac749470f2
-tag:         foo
-branch:      foo
-user:        test
-date:        Mon Jan 12 13:46:40 1970 +0000
-summary:     1
-
-2 files updated, 0 files merged, 1 files removed, 0 files unresolved
-adding d
-the --branch option is deprecated, please use 'hg branch' instead
-Using head f4ac749470f2 for branch foo
-2 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved
-(branch merge, don't forget to commit)
-the --branches option is deprecated, please use 'hg branches' instead
-changeset:   3:53b72df12ae5
-tag:         tip
-parent:      0:b544c4ac4389
-user:        test
-date:        Mon Jan 12 13:46:40 1970 +0000
-summary:     0.0
-
-changeset:   1:f4ac749470f2
-tag:         foo
-branch:      foo
-user:        test
-date:        Mon Jan 12 13:46:40 1970 +0000
-summary:     1
-