If you’re reading this on the web, then you’ll have undoubtedly noticed a whole new look and feel to this blog.  The logo below pretty much explains it all:

As part of Microsoft’s recent overhaul of the Windows Live products and services, the Windows Live Spaces services is being retired – with tenants being served a six-month eviction notice.  As WordPress is the partner of choice for Microsoft, it made sense to leap over onto their platform.

The official announcement from Microsoft is here, and a welcome message from WordPress here.

So – the upshot is that I have a slightly fresher-looking home:

I’m still settling in – so expect the site to undergo some changes over the next few days/weeks as I discover WordPress functionality.  It’s great to see that Windows Live Writer (get the 2011 final release here) makes it fairly straightforward to connect to your WordPress blog (amongst other popular blogging services).

Despite creating a custom migration process from Windows Live Spaces to WordPress, I initially had difficulty porting everything across, and it appears I’m not the only one.  In particular, it appears that many people are having problems moving to a new (rather than existing) WordPress blog – the “fix” is detailed here (requires assistance from MS support).  I’d recommend creating an account and empty blog in WordPress first, and then plugging those credentials into the migration process when prompted – as opposed to creating a new WordPress account/blog during migration, as this is where everyone appears to be having problems.

Anyhow – I’m here, and unpacking the furniture.  Huzzah!