Extra surprises with Live Writer Beta 3
September 12, 2007
The latest update for Windows Live Writer is available for download; in addition to a bug reported here, it also seems to contain a couple of extra, and unsolicited surprises. When the installer starts, you click through the ToS, and are faced by this:
At first, I thought I had simply clicked through on a previous screen without deselecting the two options I didn’t want, so I cancelled the install and started again. Same result - at no point was I asked if I want to deselect these optional extras, which means you can’t install Live Writer on its own.
The system requirements for Live Writer make no mention of Sign-In Assistant and Messenger being required components, so I can’t understand why they’re not optional. There’s no good reason I can think of for a legitimate application vendor to install stuff on my computer that I don’t want or need, and Microsoft really should know better.
Equally annoying (but, at least de-selectable) the 4 boxes for Mail, Toolbar, Photo Gallery and Family Safety are checked by default.
The new release does have some new features, like the ability to insert video and preview within a Live Writer dialogue:
Also included in this release is support for printing, which is a bit of a puzzle to me, but I guess someone might need to print out their blog posts, as well actually post them.
After going for so long without an update, it’s good to see another release (and not just a bug-fix, too,) so soon after the last one. Live Writer is easy to set up, easy to use and is still my blogging tool of choice. And, despite my mini-rant just now, I would highly recommend you check it out, if you haven’t already.
Hat-tip to Springnet, for the heads-up via Twitter.
Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Live Writer, tools, blog, writing, utilities
Posted in applications, blogging, software
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September 16th, 2007 at 2:50 am
(Hi, I’m a developer on the Windows Live Writer team.)
WLW now shares an installer with the other applications on the screenshot, and the installer will upgrade any apps you already have installed without asking you. The reason for this (as I understand it) is because we intend for the applications to become more and more integrated over time, and it’s hard to do that if you might have any version of any of the Windows Live apps installed simultaneously.
That said, it would definitely be good if we asked the user for confirmation and canceled the installation altogether if necessary. Thanks for the feedback!
P.S. lol @ chocolate rain
September 17th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Hi Joe
I really appreciate you taking the time to comment here!
I guess it does make sense to upgrade the apps I might have installed already, but isn’t there a danger that, by integrating them more tightly with each other, they’ll end up becoming impossible to install separately?
Live Writer is generating some good reviews at the moment (it was even mentioned on Windows Weekly with Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrot this week); it would be such a shame to lose that kind of positive buzz by turning it into a mega-suite because of the component dependencies…(IMHO, of course!)
(and, try as I might, I really can’t get Chocolate Rain out of my head..!)