Windows Live Writer Review – Posting into WordPress.com (Part 1 – Installation)

Well most of us would know why you have come to this link. I guess the windows live writer should be the most queried string right now in Technorati, Techcrunch and most of the other blog feed sites and news sites.

Microsoft had launched the Windows Live Writer (WLW) which is a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) blog editor which is an Windows Application. You can post you blogs using this offline blog editor. But the best part is that it works for most of the famous blogging sites and softwares such as wordpress and blogger apart from Windows Live Spaces.

I am going to walk you through the Installation, configuration and usages of Windows Live Writer. The review initially going to be a kind photo review where I am going to post the screensshots for each of the steps. I would be updating this post in the following days explaining the each of screenshots in details.

Also in this review, I am going to show an example on how to post into wordpress.com. Posting into other blogs like blogger should be the same except for some of the options. I would like to review posting blogs into blogger using WLW when I get time. Also I would be referring Windows Live Writer as WLW (abbr.).

In you find the screenshot to be spilling over outside this frame, please click on the image to open the image in a seperate window.

You can download WLW for free from the microsofts website.

Installation:

I had choosen to install the windows live toolbar.

At this step, you have to be careful. In case you check the checkbox in the above screen, then care to read the privacy statement. The privacy statement says that will windows product key will be validated along with host of other information. So if you are having a pirated copy of windows, then you better uncheck this before proceeding. See my related post on Windows Genuine Adavantage notification and Buying Genuine Windows copy.

Now I am wondering why microsoft wants to ask user to keep his system uptodate with Microsoft Update. Guys at microsoft.. this really doesn’t make sense.

Now you would be given the option of a standard, combo or advanced installation. Now again, if you see the combo option, Microsoft is trying to sell their desktop search technology along with this product. Now why can you keep this tool’s installation to do only what it has to do.

I had selected the Advanced option. So the below screenshots are pertaining to advanced option.

Here again, its upto you to choose on wheather to disclose information to microsoft or not. In my case I selected No and also I unchecked the “Make Live.com my home page” checkbox.

As could see, from the above screenshots, you can choose to install the buttons you want in your windows live toolbar if you had selected the advanced installation option.

I guess I would require a seperate post to review the windows live toolbar. So I am not covering its usage here.

On successful installation, your default browser opens up and you are redirected to the windows live toolbar page.

This completes the installation of the Windows Live Writer. The installation was pretty straightforward. But one has to be careful in terms of choosing the right options for installation. For instance, if you are more worried about microsoft spying your box, then you need to uncheck the Microsoft Update option. Also, if you are already happy with someother desktop search such as google desktop, then you need not choose the combo installation which contains the microsoft desktop search.

This ends the review of installation of WLW. Lets proceed with the Configuration and Usage of Windows Live Writer explained in Part 2.