The Character controls window has been reorganized to simplify workflows and reduce redundancy. For example, in the Character Controls menu, HIK Definition has been renamed Edit Character Definition and the Show/Hide menu has been moved to the Edit Skeleton menu and renamed Show Labels to clarify the process.
Additionally, a new mel script is available to identify dynamics nodes that are disabling the Evaluation Manager. See Identify dynamics nodes that inhibit performance.
For detailed information about improving performance with Parallel Evaluation, see Maya animation performance whitepaper.