I know this is going to sound odd coming from an avowed Apple worshiper, but when I have to use Windows I can’t avoid it. Besides, as OS go, XP isn’t bad at all, now that its been in the cooker for nearly a decade. Of course, I think that just speaks to how long it takes for Microsoft to work out all the kinks in their software. Maybe they should hire some real developers ;P Anyway, I’ve recently been working on a couple of Windows 7 books and I had the sad opportunity to engage Windows Live Essentials, a pack of software which includes the bizarrely superb Windows Live Writer. Now, Windows Live Writer, or Writer, is supposed to be a blog posting tool, but its actually quite good.

Your first thought would normally be that it only supports Microsoft technologies like Windows Live Spaces and SharePoint. There you would be wrong. I predominantly use WordPress, but I also use Blogger and in the setup wizard for the software it lists those two, TypePad, and very bravely, “All Others". That’s pretty ambitious, but when I told it my blog was WordPress it just figured everything out and set it up. It even includes a complete array of functions straight out of the web console for WordPress. They just pop up from the bottom of the editing window. In Blogger, those options aren’t there, but that’s because Blogger doesn’t have those options. Very smart.

As for the All Others claim, I can’t say. I imagine that anything which support XML-RPC should work since WordPress and Blogger both do, and I think TypePad does, as well. The great thing is that its free. You don’t need to have a Windows Live account (I think) and you don’t have to install any of the other crap that comes with the Essentials package. There are even plug-ins you can install to enable new features like automatic Twitter posting. I’m actually rather impressed for once, Microsoft. Uh… Good work?

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