Windows Live Writer Beta – Build 14
September 28, 2008 by Jason Bean
Filed under Computers
I’m finally glad to report that Windows Live Writer is finally back in full-effect on my computer and I can’t tell you just how happy that makes me. It’s amazing how much I’ve come to appreciate this piece of free software from Microsoft.
It isn’t so much a question of dependent, as I was able to use Word 2007 to blog from, or ScribeFire, or just the WordPress Admin itself.
The question comes from more of the features that became so comfortable with using and familiar with having at my finger tips ready and waiting when I needed to fire off a few posts.
One of the biggest benefits is having a central location that I can manage multiple blogs. Since the issues started with my computer I really picked up another blog that’s using the TypePad interface. Windows Live Writer picks that blog up as well and lets me manage it right along side my WordPress blogs as well.
Just in time for my needs though and Microsoft releases a new beta version of the software in Build 14. The basics haven’t really changed much, but there are a few new things that have been cleaned up that just further improves the regular use of the tool.
Here’s a couple of things that I wish were different though. These may also be issues that are bugs so I’ll list them here and see if everyone else is experiencing similar problems.
- interface doesn’t seem to remember my image inserting default settings. I’m thinking that I can save default settings for each blog, but this doesn’t seem to be working.
- Colorizing the user-interface isn’t really important by any means, but it’s something I’d like to do just to soften the interface for my use and set it apart from the other windows I have open. The colorize option doesn’t let me get the interface dark enough on the color I’ve chosen.
- I couldn’t figure out a way to insert a special character into my posts. I ended up having to use the Character Map application that comes with the Windows OS.
- I’d like to change the background color of the "Sidebar" and "Properties" section. The white background blends in too much with the post area.
Those are just a few, I’m sure I’ll come up with some more items as I continue to use it more.
Image: Screenshot © 2008 Jason Bean
Thanks for the feedback. The link at the bottom of the image sidebar (which appears when an image is selected) should let you save image settings as the default for that blog. Note that it doesn’t save all of the settings though–just the ones we thought made sense. (For example, brightness/contrast doesn’t make sense, but size does.)