After ten months of work, BuddyPress components and themes are available for download in their first beta release form.

We’re looking for testers, so if the project interests you, give it a shot and please report any bugs you find. Each component and theme will be upgraded to a final 1.0 version once it’s clear that it’s running with no major problems.

If you’re interested in testing BuddyPress without downloading and installing it, head on over to the demo site and register for an account there. The demo site runs the latest development release of BuddyPress.

For more information on the release, check out the blog post on the BuddyPress website.

If you’ve not upgraded to WordPress 2.7 yet, I can’t stress enough that it’ll be the best thing you’ll do this week.

A huge amount of work went into this version, all the way from laser eye testing to auto-upgrading to design refining. It’s the real deal. Endless kudos to everyone involved, amazing job.

The future of WordPress is bright.

Fairmont Chateau Whistler, photo by Duane Storey

Just announced 20 minutes ago – WordCamp Whistler 2009 is on!

I’m really excited about this one, Whistler will be a fantastic venue and it’ll be great to see everyone up there amongst the snowy backdrop.

The registration fee is a very reasonable $35, worth every penny to be in Whistler with fellow WordPress enthusiasts! With the registration fee you’ll get entrance, lunch, swag and access to the social.

There is a great group rate available at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Resort for those who want to stay up and hit the slopes. The Fairmont is where the conference will be held.

I’ll also be giving my first BuddyPress “post beta/final release” talk. I’ll be looking to cover some more technical ground and explain how developers can create their own custom components and extend existing ones.

All in all this is going to be a fantastic event, head on over to the signup page and get registered!