diff --git a/contrib/sample.hgrc b/contrib/sample.hgrc
--- a/contrib/sample.hgrc
+++ b/contrib/sample.hgrc
@@ -73,9 +73,9 @@
 
 # hgext.churn = /home/user/hg/hg/contrib/churn.py
 
-### win32text - line ending conversion filters for the Windows platform
+### eol - automatic management of line endings
 
-# hgext.win32text =
+# hgext.eol =
 
 ### --- hgk additional configuration
 
diff --git a/contrib/win32/mercurial.ini b/contrib/win32/mercurial.ini
--- a/contrib/win32/mercurial.ini
+++ b/contrib/win32/mercurial.ini
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ editor = notepad
 ;churn =
 ;color =
 ;convert =
+;eol =
 ;extdiff =
 ;fetch =
 ;gpg =
@@ -63,39 +64,8 @@ editor = notepad
 ;record =
 ;transplant =
 ;win32mbcs =
-;win32text =
 ;zeroconf =
 
-; To use cleverencode/cleverdecode, you must enable win32text extension
-
-[encode]
-; Encode files that don't contain NUL characters.
-
-; ** = cleverencode:
-
-; Alternatively, you can explicitly specify each file extension that
-; you want encoded (any you omit will be left untouched), like this:
-
-; *.txt = dumbencode:
-
-
-[decode]
-; Decode files that don't contain NUL characters.
-
-; ** = cleverdecode:
-
-; Alternatively, you can explicitly specify each file extension that
-; you want decoded (any you omit will be left untouched), like this:
-
-; **.txt = dumbdecode:
-
-[patch]
-; If you enable win32text filtering, you will want to enable this
-; line as well to allow patching to work correctly.
-
-; eol = crlf
-
-
 ;
 ; Define external diff commands
 ;
diff --git a/doc/hgrc.5.txt b/doc/hgrc.5.txt
--- a/doc/hgrc.5.txt
+++ b/doc/hgrc.5.txt
@@ -294,24 +294,9 @@ the command.
    where the standard shell I/O redirection operators often have
    strange effects and may corrupt the contents of your files.
 
-The most common usage is for LF <-> CRLF translation on Windows. For
-this, use the "smart" converters which check for binary files::
-
-  [extensions]
-  hgext.win32text =
-  [encode]
-  ** = cleverencode:
-  [decode]
-  ** = cleverdecode:
-
-or if you only want to translate certain files::
-
-  [extensions]
-  hgext.win32text =
-  [encode]
-  **.txt = dumbencode:
-  [decode]
-  **.txt = dumbdecode:
+This filter mechanism is used internally by the ``eol`` extension to
+translate line ending characters between Windows (CRLF) and Unix (LF)
+format. We suggest you use the ``eol`` extension for convenience.
 
 
 ``defaults``
diff --git a/hgext/win32text.py b/hgext/win32text.py
--- a/hgext/win32text.py
+++ b/hgext/win32text.py
@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@
 
 '''perform automatic newline conversion
 
+  Deprecation: The win32text extension requires each user to configure
+  the extension again and again for each clone since the configuration
+  is not copied when cloning.
+
+  We have therefore made the ``eol`` as an alternative. The ``eol``
+  uses a version controlled file for its configuration and each clone
+  will therefore use the right settings from the start.
+
 To perform automatic newline conversion, use::
 
   [extensions]