You just might have to whip out Ross's post-install checklist, because the WordPress crew have unleashed a major update, dubbed "Ella", to their web-based blogging (and now CMS) platform. Matthew Mullenweg lays out a few of the many new features in their announcement post, but to summarize, v2.1 includes:

• Autosave - this one's pretty self-explanatory; drafts are now automatically saved to prevent those dreaded "my browser crashed an all I got was this lousy blank post" moments
• New Tabbed editor - effortlessly swap between WYSIWYG and code views
• Lossless XML import/export - moving between WordPress blogs has never been so easy
• Spell checking in the WYSIWYG editor
• Search engine privacy option - is being indexed by Google putting the squeeze on your personal space? Exclude yourself from their prying bots
• Set any page as the front page - CMS-like features are slowly creeping in, and this is a major one that users have been requesting for a while
• Improved upload manager - more manager than mere conduit, you can now administer all your uploads
• More AJAX administration - not content with mere eye candy, the Dashboard now includes more AJAXy goodness for better and faster back-end management

Other notables include pages that can now be drafts or private, significant improvements to database code, link sub-categories, over 550 squashed bugs, better internationalization and much, much more! Aaron Brazell also chimes in with 10 things you need to know about the new version, including some screenshots of how a few of the new goodies look and work.

Finally, if you can't wait to get your hands on the upgrade, you might want to check the WordPress 2.1 plugin compatibility page in their codex, as beta testers and developers have been laboring to put everything they can through the ringer to see just what works with the new version, and what might need updating. As with all major platform updates like this, however, you might simply need to wait a little while for everyone to get on the same page. Either way, this looks like an impressive upgrade to an increasingly popular blogging tool that i personally can't wait to get my hands on.