WordPress 2.9 just got released, and according to the official WordPress development blog,  it is awesome! Here are the main features of the new version:

1. Global undo/”trash” feature, which means that if you accidentally delete a post or comment you can bring it back from the grave (i.e., the Trash). This also eliminates those annoying “are you sure” messages we used to have on every delete.
2. Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images to show them who’s boss. This is the first wave of our many planned media-handling improvements.
3. Batch plugin update and compatibility checking, which means you can update 10 plugins at once, versus having to do multiple clicks for each one, and we’re using the new compatibility data from the plugins directory to give you a better idea of whether your plugins are compatible with new releases of WordPress. This should take the fear and hassle out of upgrading.
4. Easier video embeds that allow you to just paste a URL on its own line and have it magically turn it into the proper embed code, with Oembed support for YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv (and more in the next release).
5. Themes can register “post thumbnails” which allow them to attach an image to the post, especially useful for magazine-style themes.
6. Custom post types have been upgraded with better API support so you can juggle more types than just post, page, and attachment. (More of this planned for 3.0.)
7. Upgraded TinyMCE WYSIWYG editing and Simplepie.
8. Create custom galleries with the new include and exclude attributes that allow you to pull attachments from any post, not just the current one.
9. When you’re editing files in the theme and plugin editors it remembers your location and takes you back to that line after you save. (Thank goodness!)
10. Registration and profiles are now extensible to allow you to collect things more easily, like a user’s Twitter account or any other fields you can imagine.

As you can tell, this version has really improved the functionality greatly for users as well as developers. And with the compatibility checking it saves users of a lot of trouble. I dare not imagine the goodies included in the forthcoming 3.0 version. There’s gonna be a party!

What are you waiting for? Download WordPress 2.9 and give it a run!