Just received an invitation from WordPress.com (I made a request for an account a few weeks ago). The activation process is cliché. But think twice before picking the username, because it will be part of the domain name of your blog, and it cannot be subsequently changed.

The interface is different from the standard, download version of WordPress. I prefer this new interface, in particular the Write section. All the options are condensed (by java script, I suppose) to produce a neat desktop. Under the Manage section, you can also check webpages which has referred to your blog, a very handy addition lacking in the download version.

Being a hosting service, some of the standard options are omitted, for instance, you can only have one user for your blog. You are also only allowed to pick a theme from a short list, you cannot edit the css file manually, and you cannot use any plugin. Perhaps there is a security concern, but it truly ties the hands of the blog-writers.

The resulting blog has a narrow navigation bar on the top row. Since it is not allowed to tweak the css file, I cannot think of an easy way to mask this navigation bar like you could with the one on Bloggers.com. It is the only price (… so far) you pay for this free service.

I think WordPress.com is tageted at the newbie bloggers who only want to blog and wish the system to take care of everything else. Not really an attractive service to me, but it may give me a glimpse of the new stuff likely to be introduced to future versions of WordPress.

My WordPress.com blog: Play@everywhere (just a temporary title).