First impressions of WordPress

After only half an hour with WordPress–a free, open-source software tool for managing a weblog–so far I must say: why have I waited this long?
I’ve been using Movable Type, a similar tool, for a year and a half now. I’ve been happy with it, I like the versatility it offers and the large pool of plug-ins and support for it. And I know how to manipulate it pretty well. I even stuck around after they went “corporate” and I’m still happy. More on why I like/dislike MT later.
But WordPress, which I’ve always read about and have been meaning to try, is so far impressing my pants off out of the box. And that’s an important point I’ll elaborate on later: it’s got some great features clearly outlined right away.
I’m using WordPress specifically for a new client, and I’m already thinking of using it over MT for more of my future blog jobs.
Some significant cool points to WordPress, after only a casual glance (I haven’t even created a post yet):

• Easy to get running, esp. with Dreamhost’s one-click install
• Easier ability to manage static pages outside of blog entries
• More editing features in the post screen (though it still just inserts HTML, I’m still more impressed by Blogger in this regard)
• Interface uncomplicated and more intuitive than MT
• Default template theme way better than MT’s
• Edit this page links
• On-the-fly theme switching
• Template system seems pretty straight forward; all templates available to edit, incl. Search templates
• Interface for managing plug-ins
• The Custom Fields ability for posts looks very promising

I’ll let you all know just how well it fairs against MT when I get this new site running.