The Windows Live Writer blog ^[1] announced today that they have a new version of Windows Live Writer Beta 2 ^[2] ready for download. Not only that the new Windows Live Messenger 8.5 ^[3] and Windows Live Mail Desktop ^[4] is available for downloads so if you are using the leaked version of Windows Live Messenger time to get the genuine one.

I have been using and playing around with quite a few desktop publishing tools for quite some time and have always been missing few key features in Live Writer like these:

1. No Inline Spell Check.
2. Was not able to add in new categories.
3. Could not add excerpts to posts.
4. Adding keywords to posts did not work.

But the new Beta release 2 is just awesome and has all the above features and more. The new Windows Live Writer Beta 2 adds more features;

Authoring Features

• Inline spell checking
• Table editing
• Ability to add categories
• Page authoring for WordPress and TypePad
• Support for excerpts and extended entries
• Improved hyperlinking and image insertion
• Paste Special

Integration Features

• SharePoint 2007 support
• New APIs enabling custom extensions by weblog providers
• Automatic synchronization of local and online edits
• Integration with Windows Live Gallery
• Support for Blogger Labels

And finally the new plus that is a complete new look and feel and availability in 6 languages. Overall I am quite excited to use the new features as I said I always had a sore point on missing them in Live writer.

Do you publish from your desktop too? If so which platform do you use to publish to your blog. Do let me know through your comments,