How to change the default MySQL character set from latin1_swedish_ci to utf8_general_ci

[eluser]renownedmedia[/eluser]
I just did a bunch of research on how to change my default character set. I'm not sure how useful this will be, but here's what I found on the topic if anyone searches the forums for this one day:

Changing MySQL Default Character Sets

[eluser]InsiteFX[/eluser]
For any Unicode character set, operations performed using the utf8_general_ci collation are faster than those for the utf8_unicode_ci collation. For example, comparisons for the utf8_general_ci collation are faster, but slightly less correct, than comparisons for utf8_unicode_ci. The reason for this is that utf8_unicode_ci supports mappings such as expansions; that is, when one character compares as equal to combinations of other characters. For example, in German and some other languages “ß” is equal to “ss”. utf8_unicode_ci also supports contractions and ignorable characters. utf8_general_ci is a legacy collation that does not support expansions, contractions, or ignorable characters. It can make only one-to-one comparisons between characters.

Enjoy
InsiteFX