It’s taken me a while to get around to trying Live Writer… and it turns out that Microsoft had released a new version (Windows Live Writer 2008) just as I decide to try it.  This is my ‘first look’ post.

So what is it and what can it do?

Well, it’s a blog post editor.  I’m writing this post using Live Writer.  And, more interestingly, the editor is formatted just like my blog.

The width of the page, the paragraph formatting, the font… all taken from the settings of the very blog you are reading.  It’s a WYSIWYG blog post editor (you can also view/edit is as HTML)

It works with most major blogging software (not just Microsoft’s own) which in my case is WordPress. Plus it will spell check, automatically post images, maps and video, set categories, publish date and it has a plug-in model for extending the functionality (take a look at the plug-in gallery here).

I thought I’d try the Silverlight streaming plug-in - which as you’d expect allows you to add a streaming link to a post.  If it worked, you’ll be able to see the first frame of the video with the title ‘Raw Food Recipes eBook’ or will see an ‘install Silverlight’ icon.

(the Silverlight video is from our ValuedClientSystem.com demonstration videos)

Enjoy…
-Mark

Mark Quirk is a director at Know It Use It Ltd
http://www.ValuedClientSystem.com - From Prospects to Customers to Valued Clients
http://www.VCSHosts.co.uk – Create Your Online Business In A Box