Content Marketing Today

A Kinder, Gentler Microsoft Quietly Releases Live Writer:

A blogging editor that may kill the competition with kindness.

Something is afoot at Microsoft.

It has to do with a product quietly released in beta in mid-July 2007. It’s called Windows Live Writer. It’s slick. It’s solid. And it’s free.

Live Writer is an intuitive, WYSIWYG blogging editor that enables bloggers to manage multiple blogs on multiple platforms–either online or offline. In fact, I’m writing this article with Live Writer.

But the release of Live Writer isn’t just about a product. It’s about Microsoft reasserting application dominance in a world of consumer-created content.

Free is a Strategy that Works for Microsoft

Although Bill Gates prefers to get paid for software, he knows how and when to give it away free. Just think back to 1995 when Microsoft first started to take the web seriously.

In May 1995, a few months before the launch of the much hyped Windows 95, Bill Gates wrote a legendary memo, entitled, “The Internet Tidal Wave.”

“It’s the most important single development” since the IBM PC. “I have gone through several stages of increasing my views of its importance. Now, I assign the Internet the highest level.”(as quoted in Business Week, July 15, 1996) What followed within 12 months was a seismic shift in strategy that put the Internet at center stage

Microsoft was late to the party, but not too late to crush a once arrogant Netscape. While Netscape was charging $50/copy for its browser, Microsoft readied the launch of Internet Explorer in 1996 at a much lower price: FREE. As Bill Gates cheerfully noted in a press conference at the launch of IE, “It’s priced to sell.”

It looks as though Microsoft is making another strategic move that’s all about the Internet–and about blogging.

What Makes Live Writer So Important?

Microsoft, like the Japanese, tends to take the long view. They may be late to the party. They may appear to have missed an opportunity. But, once they decide they must dominate a market they will do whatever it takes.

“I think blogging is super-important and we’ve got to do a lot more software.” That’s what Bill Gates said in a January 7, 2005 interview on the blog, Gizmondo. Clearly, he was telegraphing what they’re now doing.

Microsoft’s approach with Live Writer is intriguing–not just because it’s a beta product that works with very few glitches, but because it plays nice with others.

Here’s how it works:

• Download and install it. LW will work even when you are not connected to the Web.
• Tell LW about your blogs
  • what tool are you using? It works with WordPress, Typepad, Blogger, and Microsoft’s Live Spaces
  • show it how you log on
  • let it match your style by posting a test blog that it immediately removes
• You can submit either a post or a page
  • it pulls down your categories
  • it lets you set a publish date
  • you can edit and resubmit
  • you can pull down posts that you had made before using LW in order to edit them
• It’s WYSIWYG tools enable you to
  • format a page easily
  • insert tables, photos, website images, and videos
  • create hyperlinks and tags
  • work effectively even on a small laptop screen
  • work with voice dictation on the Vista platform
• It has some nice plug ins both from Microsoft and from 3rd party developers
  • a notable and symbolic example from the LW team is “Blog this from Firefox” tool. Imagine developing something that works seamlessly with Firefox!

The Bottom-line

Live Writer is capable and easy to use. It matches the very attractive price of Internet Explorer–Free. It works just as easily with WordPress as with Live Spaces. It’s just as useful offline as on. Within a day of using it, Live Writer has become my blog editor of choice.

Microsoft was heavy-handed in destroying Netscape. Live Writer demonstrates that Microsoft is just as determined to win in the blogosphere as it was to win on the web. In 2007 it looks as though Microsoft will do it with a great product that actually plays nice with others. What a nice surprise.