import/export. sorta.
June 14, 2006 
XML export is here! Hurray! Unfortunately, they couldn’t quite stretch to making it work with 2.03. So yeah, if you actually want to use this feature to move to a self-hosted wordpress install, said install has to be an unsupported nightly build. Not cool.
Why they would rush this feature out without the accompanying plugin to make it usable with the latest release baffles me. How long would you have to hold back on it in order to finish the plugin? How complicated a plugin can it be? Say what you want about widgets, but they were fully-documented and ready to use from launch. Maybe they feared a mass exodus coinciding with the code push (which, as per usual, has made things decidedly flaky around here) and didn’t want to enable movement until things had settled down?
Well now I’m confused – export is good for users, yes, (some just want a backup) but if someone were to set up their own hosted version of WP it has an import from RSS button. No export needed.
(of course, it doesn’t snag comments, so maybe that’s the catch?)
RSS import/export was a messy workaround which not only dispenses with your comments (not a minor problem, as in many cases the debate which goes on in comments is as important and interesting as the posts themselves) but also severely inconveniences anyone who happens to be subscribed to your feed by flooding them with every post you’ve ever made. No, XML export has been needed for a loooong time, and my only cavil is that they didn’t take the trouble to launch it properly.
The other problem is that it’s hard to find other blog hosts that take XML imports. Blogsome, which seems to be the closest bet, doesn’t have an “import” fuction. argh. >_
Blogsome was stuck on some hacked version of 1.5, last time I looked. You might have better luck with another WordPressMU host, but I doubt the new code has been backported yet so I don’t rate your chances.
Check out Lyceum (http://lyceum.ibiblio.org). It is a multi-user, multi-blog WP that tracks the WP codebase closely. I’m seeing more and more Lyceum blog hosts springing up lately.
Interesting, how about some links?
Some WPMU hosts are already looking into it. (wink wink)
[...] The bad news is that three weeks after first announcing XML import/export, Automattic still haven’t bothered coming up with a plugin that would make it usable with the latest stable version of wordpress. The good news is that Aaron Brazell has stepped up to the plate and done it for them. [...]