WordPress 2.5 is almost ready for release. According to Matt Mullenweg, the development of WordPress 2.5 is complete and it seems to be stable. If you are interested to try it, you can download the Release Candidate 1 of WordPress 2.5 and test it on your blog. They are waiting just for your feedback!

In the mean time, Matt has released a sneak peek of WordPress 2.5 in a new blog post. The aim of this sneak peek is to get user feedbacks before the official release of the popular blogging software.

A customizable dashboard, multi-file upload, built-in galleries, one-click plugin upgrades, tag management, built-in Gravatars, full text feeds, and faster load times sound interesting? Then WordPress 2.5 might be the release for you. It’s been in the oven for a while, and we’re finally ready to open the doors a bit to give you a taste.

 

For the past few months, we’ve been working with our friends at Happy Cog — Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, and Liz Danzico — to redesign WordPress from the ground-up. The result is a new way of interacting with WordPress that will remain familiar to seasoned users while improving the experience for everyone. This isn’t just a fresh coat of paint — we’ve re-thought the look of WordPress, as well as how it’s organized so that you can forget about the software and focus on your own creative pursuits.

The blog post by Matt, tells about the different changes in the new version, with the help of some screenshots. Earlier when I tested WordPress 2.5, the dashboard looked very dull. I think that they have made some changes. Now, the dashboard feels much fresher and lighter. In the new dashboard, you will see a quick summary of what’s published and scheduled for publication, the latest comments and incoming links, blog stats, and WordPress updates and news. in WordPress 2.5, you will be able to add your own RSS feeds to your dashboard.

In WordPress 2.5, you can see changes in the navigation tabs. It will have four main tabs – Write, Manage, Design and Comments. The new write screen only displays the information that you’ll use most often. The new visual editor has a cool full-screen mode, that will help you concentrate more on your writing. There are lots of other changes in this new version of WordPress. To know more, take a look at the sneak peek or just wait a few days to try the real product!