The latest and greatest version of the WordPress software — 3.3, named “Sonny” in honor of the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt — is immediately available for download or update inside your WordPress dashboard.

WordPress has had over 65 million downloads since version 3.0 was released, and in this third major iteration we’ve added significant polish around the new user experience, navigation, uploading, and imports. Check out this short video that summarizes the things we think you’ll find are the cat’s pajamas:

For Users

Experienced users will appreciate the new drag-and-drop uploader, hover menus for the navigation, the new toolbar, improved co-editing support, and the new Tumblr importer. We’ve also been thinking a ton about what the WordPress experience is like for people completely new to the software. Version 3.3 has significant improvements there with pointer tips for new features included in each update, a friendly welcome message for first-time users, and revamped help tabs throughout the interface. Finally we’ve improved the dashboard experience on the iPad and other tablets with better touch support.

For Developers

There is a ton of candy for developers as well. I’d recommend starting your exploration with the new editor API, new jQuery version, better ways to hook into the help screens, more performant post-slug-only permalinks, and of course the entire list of improvements on the Codex and in Trac.

Roll the Credits

The Credits tab on the new About WordPress screen in the WordPress dashboard provides recognition for contributors to each release, but we like to thank them here as well.

Aaron D. Campbell, Aaron Jorbin, Adam Backstrom, Adam Harley, Alex Concha, Alex King, Alex Mills (Viper007Bond), amereservant, ampt, Andrei Freeman, Andre Renaut, andrewfrazier, Andrew Nacin, Andrew Ozz, Andrew Ryno, Andy Skelton, Anthony Atkinson, Austin Matzko, Bartosz Kaszubowski, Benjamin J. Balter, Brandon Dove, carlospaulino, Caspie, cebradesign, Chelsea Otakan, Chip Bennett, Chris Jean, Coen Jacobs, Curtiss Grymala, Daniel Bachhuber, Daryl Koopersmith, Daryl L. L. Houston, David, David Cowgill, David Gwyer, Da^MsT, deltafactory, demetris, Derek Herman, Devin Reams, Digital Raindrops, Dion Hulse (@dd32), Dominik Schilling (ocean90), Doug Provencio, dragoonis, DrewAPicture, Dylan Kuhn, eduplessis, Eightamrock, eko-fr, Elpie, elyobo, Empireoflight, Erick Hitter, Eric Mann, Evan Anderson, Evan Solomon, fonglh, garyc40, Gary Jones, Gaurav Aggarwal, George Stephanis, goldenapples, goto10, hakre, Helen Hou-Sandi, Ian Stewart, Ipstenu, Jackson, Jacob Gillespie, Jake Goldman, James Collins, Jane Wells, jeremyclarke, Jesper Johansen (Jayjdk), jgadbois, Jick, Joe Hoyle, John Blackbourn, John Hawkins, John James Jacoby, JohnONolan, John P. Bloch, Jon Cave, Jorge Bernal, Joseph Scott, jtclarke, Jurica Zuanovic, Justin Givens, Justin Sainton, Kailey Lampert (trepmal), kevinB, kitchin, Konstantin Kovshenin, Kuraishi, Kurt Payne, Lance Willett, Latz, linuxologos, Lloyd Budd, Luc De Brouwer, lukeschlather, Mako, Mantas Malcius, MarcusPope, mark-k, Mark Jaquith, Mark McWilliams, Marko Heijnen, Martin Lormes, masonjames, Matias Ventura, Matt Mullenweg, Matt Thomas, Matt Wiebe, MattyRob, Mert Yazicioglu, Michael Adams (mdawaffe), Michael Fields, Michal “Mau” Pliska, Mike Bijon, Mike Schroder, Milan Dinic, mitchoyoshitaka, Mohammad Jangda, Morten Hauan, Mr Papa, mrtorrent, Naoko McCracken, natebedortha, Nikolay Bachiyski, olivM, olleicua, Otto, pagesimplify, paulhastings0, pavelevap, pete.mall, Peter Westwood, peterwilsoncc, ppaire, Ptah Dunbar, r-a-y, Rami Y, Rasheed Bydousi, Robert Chapin (miqrogroove), Ron Rennick, Ross Hanney, ruslany, Ryan Boren, ryanhellyer, Ryan Imel, Safirul Alredha, Samir Shah, Sam Margulies, saracannon, Scott Basgaard, Scott Bressler, Scott Cariss, scottconnerly, Scott Reilly, Scott Taylor, scribu, Sergey Biryukov, Sheri Bigelow, Simon Wheatley, sirzooro, Stephanie Leary, tech163, TheDeadMedic, Tim Moore, Tom Auger, Travis Ballard, Ulrich Sossou, vnsavage, wpweaver, WraithKenny, Yoav Farhi, and Ze Fontainhas.

As well, we’d like to give a shout out to these users who have been particularly active on the support forums since the release of 3.2:

alchymyth, Andrea_r, ClaytonJames, cubecolour, Eran Miller, esmi, Frederick Townes, govpatel, Ipstenu, keesiemeijer, kmessinger, Marcus, Otto, peredur, Rev. Voodoo, Samuel B, Tobias, vtxyzzy, and zoonini.

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