Windows Live Writer Blog Beta launched by Microsoft; More Windows Live Services tested

Microsoft has announced a new beta for the Windows Live Writer blog post composition service.

The Writer tool is part of Microsoft’s Windows Live online initiative and its first version was introduced in 2006.

With Windows Live Writer users can compose blog posts and publish them on well-known blogging platforms - such as Windows Live Spaces, Community Server, WordPress and TypePad.

Nick White, a Microsoft product manager, displayed the new features in the Windows Live Writer beta on the Windows Vista team blog. It makes possible for users to spell check as they write, gives them the ability to add categories and edit tables, and allows for easier image insertion, maintained White.

Furthermore, the software maker also announced new betas for its instant messaging and web-based mail services this week.

Though Windows Live Messenger 8.5 is officially in its beta form now, users had already got an early look of it when the release was leaked in Spanish on the Messenger Adictos blog earlier this week. The beta bundles in a user interface designed to resemble more like the refurbished Aero interface of Windows Vista. The beta is available on the Windows Live site.

Next is Windows Live Mail, the successor to Windows Mail that is included in Windows Vista and Outlook Express on Windows XP, which also has a new beta release. The latest version packs in a new user interface that is similar to other services in Windows Live, and also enables users to sync to their Windows Live Hotmail accounts.

Other features in the Windows Live Mail beta include:

Offline mail

Windows Live Hotmail account aggregation

Additional account aggregation for POP3 and IMAP mail accounts

RSS feed aggregation

More advanced photo-sharing capabilities

More advanced search via integration with Windows Desktop Search

Additional safety measures (AV scanning, anti-phishing, anti-spam protection across aggregated accounts for customers who do not have an AV product)

Additional integration with Windows Live services including Windows Live Spaces

As for now, the service will not include advertisements, the company said. But several of the Windows Live services have been developed by Microsoft to give impetus to online advertising revenue; so many already include advertising or will in the future.

The new Windows Live Writer beta is available in both English and Spanish in the U.S., as well as in English in India and the U.K. It also is available in Spain, Germany, Japan, China and France.

Microsoft disclosed a novel strategy to develop new online services in November 2005, and also introduced the latest Windows Live brand. A number of the services previously branded MSN are now rechristened as Windows Live.

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