Windows Live Writer: WYSIWYG Blogging for All
The beta version of the Windows Live Writer blogging tool was released by Microsoft this weekend. WLW is a desktop application which provides an interface for Windows Live Spaces as well as other major blogging platforms like Blogger, Movable Type, WordPress and LiveJournal.
Check out the thorough introduction to the tool on Windows Live Spaces written by J.J. Allaire of the Windows Live Writer team. I downloaded it and played around with some of the features this morning. Here's a screenshot from my Windows desktop:
The tool is basically a word processor built for blogging — and a surprisingly robust and useful one at that. It has a very word-processory feature set, including a spell checker and advanced document management. Users can post directly from your desktop, or they can save posts as drafts either on their local machine or in their blog's CMS.
Windows Live Writer will likely be a revelation for people who are new to blogging or unfamiliar with the more advanced tools out there. It offers true WYSIWYG editing of blog posts — users don't need to know a lick of HTML. The tool lets the user add links, pictures and other elements using drag-and-drop or simple cut and paste commands, just like in Word. There's also an HTML edit mode for more advanced users.
Additionally, the tool provides some web-specific image handling options. Once I selected an image I wanted to add, I was given the option of uploading it to my blog via HTTP or FTP. The HTTP transfer requires the chosen blogging platform to support XML/RPC newMediaObject uploads. Within the Writer, there are resizing and optimization tools as well as simple image editing capabilities like brightness/contrast adjustments. I added a nice sepia tone to my chosen image, too.
As expected, the application pushes Live.com services heavily. Users can add Windows Live Local maps to their blog posts, and Windows Live Spaces members can add other widgets built for the community site. Writer also has support for plug-ins, though there don't seem to be any available right now. The application is still in beta, and the plug-ins are under development. Microsoft has also released an SDK that allows software developers to build additional functionality into the tool.
Downsides? No Mac client (gee, that's a surprise). No support for adding tags to your posts out of the box, though Tim Heuer has fixed that. Limited support for selective formatting of text with pre-existing CSS styles. For the most part, however, users in need of a desktop blogging tool that looks/feels/tastes like Windows can't go wrong here.
