Google's new blogger out of beta...

Everyone writing about the new Blogger, which just came out of beta. What's been odd is that people who are new to blogging have been using the new version for months while older "customers" have been stuck with the old version.

Last night up "upgraded" both my blogs, this one and ...one missionary in Kosovo to the new version. In the main, I like what they've done with the upgrade. The new version includes tags (which Blogger calls labels), new template options, new publishing method, etc. It also includes some slightly heavier weight improvements:

• something like trackbacks, only they call them "backlinks" I'm not sure whether these are automatically generated or not.
  
• improved control over who has permission to read your blog. This may not seem like a big deal to most people, but for people working in closed- or limited-access countries it's a big bonus.
• improved layout controls. You can now add widgets and scripts very easily. I added a Flickr badge in about two minutes on my ...one missionary blog. It also allows you to drag-and-drop components of your layout, which is nice.

Blogger has also made it very easy to upgrade old blogs to the new format. I've read some complaints that people with a very large number of posts are having difficult upgrading, but haven't seen anything to confirm that.

For more information check out:
TechCrunch
Silicon Valley Watcher
Information Week

My biggest disappointment in the whole thing is that my BlogJet, my favorite blog editor, doesn't work anymore. Dmitry, the author only comments that this issue will be resolved in the new version of BlogJet but won't commit to a release date. That's a little frustrating and I may begin to look elsewhere again.

Overall I'm happy about the new version of Blogger. I would be happier, I suppose, if I didn't feel like Google had left Blogger to rust for the last several years. Only after years have they tuned up the engine, changed the oil and replaced the running-gear. Maybe its not a good analogy, Google executes so well in some areas and in others....not so much.