If I could name one Microsoft application which has met with the near unanimous approval of the tech crowd then it’s Windows Live Writer. I can only speak for myself, but I know a lot of bloggers who wouldn’t be able to live without this handy piece of software… and now it has just got even better.
Shankar has previously discussed this subject but the latest Windows Live Writer code drop has been released as a technical preview and so I think it’s as good a time as any to go through a few more of the things you do with Writer and describing the changes in this build.
Well, I must say I am coming to the conclusion that the Windows Live Initiative is becoming one of the best things to come out of Microsoft in years.
In a series of articles, I hope to cover Windows Live in a greater amount of detail then you may have seen before. I am aware that Make Use Of has previously covered several services (such as Live Writer and SkyDrive), so I am going to avoid simply giving a run-down of features. You already know it.
Travis has already introduced Windows Live Writer to Make Use Of readers so I just thought I would tell everyone about some features that can be turned on, some settings that can be configured so that you can make use of Windows Live Writer better.
One thing that I missed a lot on Windows Live Writer (WLW) is a spell checker. But when Travis told me that there was a spell checker inbuilt and only that it needed to be turned on, I was overjoyed. Here’s how you can turn it on:
Windows SkyDrive is a nice little online storage spot to dump some of your files you’d like to be able to grab anytime, anywhere. Open to of course, Windows Live (Passport) customers all it takes is a simple visit and login and you’re up and running. They’re offering 5GB of space which is a nice chunk of storage to dump all your important files of all types.
To get started, point your browser to SkyDrive and sign in. You’ll have to have a Windows Live (Passport) account to use their services. Once you sign in and accept the EULA, you’ll be able to get started uploading some of your important backup files.
MakeUseOf guest author Adam Hirsch covered Windows Live Writer back in August when it was still in beta, but still a good application with promise.
Now it’s out, and Windows Live Writer is a great application with millions of users using it as their desktop blog publisher of choice.
Currently, Writer works with most of the major blog providers out there. Including but not limited to Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint, WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, Movable Type, etc. It really only takes a few seconds to get started thanks to Writer’s built-in automatic configuration that sets up your application, syncs your categories and downloads your blog’s template files so that you can see what your blog post will truly look like.
Microsoft as a company is not usually associated with cool and free products. In that sense, Google is way ahead, it has Gmail, Google Reader, Calendar, Google Docs and dozens of other useful services. Nonetheless, there are a bunch of FREE Microsoft tools that are definitely worth a look. While some of them are yet to be released, others have been around for a a while.
(1) HealthVault
Service that many US families should find really useful. In simple terms, HealthVault is an online safebox for all your medical records. It’s not just a storage place to keep medical history but also to share records with doctors, place to where medical documents can be faxed and auto-archived, and lots more.
I have been using Microsoft’s Live Writer (Beta) for over 2 months now and I love it. My main reason that I probably use it for is that it’s not web-based. This allows me to work whenever I want on it, without browsing from one site to the other and fears of losing any information (WLW saves drafts just like MS Word). My other main reason for using it is that it allows me to publish to 2 blogs at the same time, with minimal steps.
My favorite aspects and features:
