Pownce was opened to the public as of midnight. I wasn’t able to stay awake when this happened, but when I woke up this morning I wanted to see what new features Pownce brought. There are a few features that I have been waiting for.

Read replies and reply directly from the Pownce desktop client. In previous versions this wasn’t possible. The biggest complaint I’ve seen so far (myself included) is not being able to minimize to the tray. A tray icon was added for Pownce, but its only function is to tell you when there are new messages. Pownce still minimizes to the taskbar. Hopefully there will be a fix for this in the next version. Until then, check out PownceTray.

You may notice that if you use PownceTray with the newer version of the client, that there will be two icons in the system tray. If you hide Pownce’s icon in the notification settings, only PownceTray’s icon will be displayed. This is a temporary fix.

Finding old and new friends is now easier. Choose to import your friends from other network sites and e-mail accounts, such as Digg, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo and more. You can also search for people or look through the Featured Powncers list and find some worthy Powncers.

Others that are talking about the public release of Pownce:

• Pownce Opens to Public Tonight at Midnight; Early Screen Shots of New Features
• Pownce Opened Up
• Pownce Pounces on the Public at Midnight Tonight
• File Sharing/Micro-Blogging Site Pownce Now in Public Beta

What features do you like the most and what features would you like to see?