At first, I embedded this video into my blog, like the YouTube videos you have seen before, but because the video took up so much space, it messed up the blog, so here is the link. It is funny and worth a couple minutes of you time, especially if you are getting fed up with Windows.

So, I just downloaded the Windows Live Writer, and this is the first post I’ve written using this tool.  I am going to try it over the next few weeks to see if it is something that I want to use.

The great part about it that I notice to begin with is that I am seeing exactly what this blog will look like on my site before it is even posted.

This is a WordPress blog which means that if I want to post, I usually use the online editor that comes part and parcel with WordPress.  I go to a special URL, and I post.  It’s not unlike writing an email, only with the world as the recipient. (That sounded ridiculous, but I am leaving it in…)

The Windows Live Writer (WLW) gives you the ability to craft the entry locally on your machine and then upload it later.  It has the added benefit of being a WYSIWYG editor as I explained earlier.

I first heard about it on the Windows Weekly netcast on the TWIT netcast network.  I forgot about it but was reminded when I was reading Leo LaPorte’s blog post about it.  He seems to like it, and it made me interested.

Generally speaking, Leo likes everything when its new, so his accolades about brand new products have to be taken with the very slightest bit of salt, but this product sounded very interesting.  Especially since he recently moved his blog over to WordPress also. (Leo, if you read this… you are one of my heroes… but after listening to you for the past 6 years on radio and on TV, you have to admit you have a penchant for the latest thing.)

One thing I like about WLW almost immediately is that I can add links with the trusty ‘ctrl+k’.  I love that.  ‘Ctrl+k’ works in all other Windows products to add links, and I find myself hitting that key combination in other products where it doesn’t work.  So, that is welcome feature here.

Even though you saw the picture of that fountain pen at the beginning, I just now added it to the blog entry.  Wow that was easy, and it gave me a lot of options of how to display it.  I could have chosen black and white, sepia, blurry, embossed, or a ton of other options.  WLW also added that drop shadow effect.  In addition to all of that, I also had the option of what size to upload.  All that happened right here in the WLW interface.  This is pretty slick, and lately I have lost interest in posting to my blog.  This new product will get me writing on my blog again.