1.3 RC2, selecting options

1.3 RC2, selecting options

I'm currently adapting the validation plugin to 1.3 RC2, aiming for a
new release before 1.3 is out. The obvious problem, usage of
deprecated [@attr=val] selectors was easy to fix.
Another issue I couldn't fix yet is selecting options. I'm using these
lines to validate if enough options have been selected:
var options = $("option:selected", element);
return options.length > 0 && ( element.type == "select-multiple" ||
($.browser.msie && !(options[0].attributes['value'].specified) ?
options[0].text : options[0].value).length > 0);
It seems like $("option") in 1.3 RC2 returns only a single option on
my testpage, causing all tests related to selects to fail. Is there an
alternative that I can use that also works with 1.2.6?
There are more which I haven't yet pinned down...
Jörn