So far I have used 4.2.0 CR versions on Windows. Now I have tried GA and to my surprise no web applications work.
Startup messages and server log seems normal (although so far startup used to be 20-40 sec, now it's 5-8 sec), but no errors, no exceptions.
Then a request localhost:8080 and the browser cannot connect. No jmx-console, no nothing. Mod_jk does not work either. Netstat lists many familiar JBoss ports, but not 8080.
Sorry for the false alarm, it was my fault, malforming xml (deployment URLs). But the same old bogus "No META-INF/application.xml" error for EARs still persist (http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBAS-4350?watch=true)