Windows Live Writer 2011

I’m spending my first few minutes with the new Windows Live Writer 2011 and so far there are some things I like and some things I don’t.

I’m not an enormous fan of the new MS ribbon, but the layout in Writer is pretty good. Most functions are easily accessible, except there is no New Post button on the ribbon. You have to click through the menus to get it. That is terribly inconvenient.

Also, the New Post button causes a new window to open even though I have the option set to open new posts in the same window. Not sure where that glitch is coming from, but again, that’s annoying.

The layout is a little peculiar as well. It seems to take it’s stylings from Microsoft Word. The categories and tags dropdowns are now at the top of the screen and the title text is now centered. It’s not bad, but I think I liked it the other way.

Apart from that, all the familiar features of Writer are there. You can easily insert pictures, links, video, switch blogs and set your formatting options. It looks to be the same Writer we all know and like with a different layout and organization to it. I still like Writer, but considering Microsoft closed down Spaces and no longer offers a blogging platform, it’ll be interesting to see what the future holds. Perhaps it will stay it’s own stand alone app, perhaps it will all be rolled up into Word.

So is Writer worth the upgrade? Yes and no. I’m sure there are bug fixes and other updates rolled up in there, but don’t expect astounding new features or a can’t live without functions. It’s the same Writer as before, just a different look.