There's been some pretty bad press about Windows Live Writer ("WLW") - the new blog editor recently released by Microsoft. Minus one very annoying yet short-lived initial start-up issue, I think it's quite a useful and polished tool.
For starters (and on a sidenote), I think people generally like to bash Microsoft, so the criticism is to be expected - although it really is not warranted in this case.
I've looked extensively at blog editors (for Windows PCs) and to this point, really have not been satisfied. My preference has been w.bloggar and I still stand by it as a great tool - but I immediately became a fan of WLW (for Mac users, Om Malik makes a point, which I cannot verify but assumed to be true - MarsEdit is a great blog editor "close to perfection").
There are a number of things to like about WLW, including a robust spell checker (you may wonder why the others have struggled to get that right). One of the neatest things though, is writing in "Web Layout" mode. Essentially, WLW pulls in the style of your blog and let's you view the copy you are writing the way it will actually appear on the site. The "Web Preview" takes that a step further and shows you your blog with the new content, as if the post were actually published.
The one small issue you will experience with the start of WLW is that it will publish a test post onto your blog. In many instances, it will clean that up for you - but be sure to check both your blog and RSS feed to manually delete it, in the event it wasn't removed.
Don't be fooled here, WLW is doing some very innovative things and PC users should be very happy with this great tool.
Great blog! I've added a link to your blog on Blog of the Day under the category of Blogging. To view the feature of your blog, please visit http://blogoftheday.org/page/111958
Posted by: Rob | August 17, 2006 at 09:05 PM