The WordPress 3.6 Beta has been released, and users with a self-hosted WordPress installation can easily upgrade to it with the Beta Tester plugin. This is the first beta release, so it’s not recommended for live sites, but plugin/theme developers and anyone with a keen eye for bugs are encouraged to try it out now.

Unlike previous WordPress Beta releases, this one is feature-complete, so everyone can focus entirely on reporting and fixing bugs without worrying about any incoming new features.

This new release brings with it a new default theme, local autosaves (to project your post in the event of crazy unforeseen events), a new post formats UI, a new simplified custom menus UI, support for embedding uploaded audio and video files without relying on a plugin or third-party service, and better revisions with the ability to lock a post in progress.

If you run into any bugs…