The crew over at WordPress has announced the release of version 2.2.  This has been a widely anticipated release, as it is the first to include the ever popular WordPress Widgets pluging built right into the release.  This means no more customizing your themes to allow for the plugin!

Also included in the release is full on support for Atom feeds and some core speed optimizations.

I went ahead and got the install fired up on my local dev site and it works like a charm!  Compliant with both PHP 4.3 and PHP 5.2.  As always, the upgrade is a breeze.  Most of all, don't forget to get the Ryboe Tag Cloud Plugin added into your install! (just toss it in the /wp-content/plugins/ directory)

To read more about the release, head over to the official WordPress Development Blog entry

You can download WordPress 2.2 here