OStatic

If you're like millions of people who don't mind getting their hands a bit dirty with software configuration, you can download and install a blogging package. One of the most sophisticated such packages is WordPress, which is distributed under the GNU Public License. Version 2.5 of WordPress was released at the end of last week, and it is a significant improvement over an already impressive piece of software.

The latest release of WordPress includes many new features. But the biggest and most important feature of all is the user interface, which has been overhauled and improved to make blogging even easier. Learn more.

Posted by Om Malik on GigaOm.com

A few months ago, Anne Zelenka wrote about how WordPress could be an underpinning of a social network, an idea first postulated by Chris Messina. Of course, when Automattic, the startup behind WordPress.comﾒs hosted service, raised a whopping $29.5 million in VC funding recently, I speculated that they might be adding social networking features to their service. Now it is almost certain. (Continue reading at Gigaom.com.)