Yesterday’s Windows 8 blog post on the “reimagining” of Windows Live, or, if you prefer, the “ditching” or “killing” of Windows Live, (as it was referred to in numerous tech blogs commenting on the post), as is customary when we’re left to wait for the “coming weeks” for more details, left as many questions as answers.
In poring over the table embedded in the blog, which shows the transition of former Windows Live services to their new non-branded replacements, a number of enthusiasts noticed a number of omissions (Windows Live Sync, for example, a omission without much consequence as it is long gone already), including the glaring absence of any reference at all to Windows Live Writer. Here’s the table:
|
Service |
Windows 8 |
Windows Phone |
Web/HTML 5 (live.com) |
API (dev. |
Earlier Versions |
|
Account |
Microsoft account |
Microsoft account |
Account.live.com |
OAUTH |
Windows Live ID, Passport |
|
Storage/ |
SkyDrive app, SkyDrive Desktop |
SkyDrive app, Office app |
SkyDrive.com |
REST, JSON |
FolderShare, Live Mesh, Windows Live Mesh |
|
|
Mail app |
Mail app |
Hotmail.com |
EAS |
Windows Live Mail, Outlook Express |
|
Calendar |
Calendar app |
Calendar app |
Calendar.live.com |
EAS, REST |
Windows Live Mail, Windows Calendar |
|
Contacts |
People app |
People app |
People.live.com |
EAS, REST |
Windows Contacts |
|
Messaging |
Messaging app |
Messaging app |
Integrated in Hotmail and SkyDrive |
XMPP |
MSN Messenger |
|
Photos/ Videos |
Photos app, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker |
Photos app, Camera Roll |
Photos.live.com |
REST, JSON (via SkyDrive) |
Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Movie Maker |
For many of you who don’t blog regularly, it isn’t much of an issue, but for those of us who do, Windows Live Writer is a very useful tool and probably our most used Windows Live product on a daily basis.
If you are a Windows Live Writer enthusiast, our friend and occasional LiveSide contributor (and Windows Live MVP, based initially on his numerous Windows Live Writer plugins) Scott Lovegrove has posted an online petition to “Save Windows Live Writer”. At the time of this writing, the petition has 116 signatures, nearly a hundred retweets, and even 10 Google “+1”s!!
While we do expect that Windows Live Writer will survive, at least in the short term, as a part of Windows Live Essentials (unlike a service like Live Mesh, which has a significant cloud component, Writer is a desktop app and should continue to work as long as you can get it installed), it can’t hurt to sign the petition if you’re a WLW fan.
Microsoft hasn’t made any announcements on the future of Writer either way (they do promise more information in the proverbial “coming weeks”).