The official release version of WordPress 2.0 is now available for download and install/upgrade.

I haven’t personally had a chance yet to do either a clean install or an upgrade, but will definately report my first-hand experiences as time permits.

As for what’s new in WordPress 2.0, there has been a major overhaul to both the user interface and the back end. WYSIWYG editing is now built into WP. The handling of uploading of images/audio/video for inclusion in your posting is streamlined and much improved. Posting is supposedly faster, and you can even resize the rich text editor’s box on the fly. Post previews now show how your post will look with your current theme applied. MAJOR improvements to spam handling. And of course, lots of bug fixes (among other things).

Here are some guides to help make your upgrade smoother - make sure you backup your database and your wp-config.php file BEFORE you do anything else!!!:

• Tamba2’s upgrade guide
• The WordPress Codex’s upgrade guide

Dinner’s on the table, so I’ve got to run - more for you on WP 2.0 tomorrow! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!