Open Live Writer
Original author(s)Microsoft
Developer(s).NET Foundation
Preview release
0.6.2.0 / May 23, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-05-23)
Repository
Written inC# and C++
Operating systemWindows 7 and later[1]
PlatformIA-32 and x64[1]
TypeBlog software
LicenseMIT License
Websiteopenlivewriter.com

Open Live Writer (also known as OLW) is a free and open-source desktop blogging application released by .NET Foundation. It is a fork of Windows Live Writer 2012 by Microsoft. Open Live Writer features WYSIWYG authoring, photo-publishing and map-publishing functionality, and is currently compatible with WordPress.com, WordPress (hosted), and Blogger, with support for more platforms planned. The application's source code is available on GitHub under the MIT License.

History

Windows Live Writer

Open Live Writer is a fork of Windows Live Writer, which is based on Onfolio Writer,[2] a product Microsoft obtained from the acquisition of Onfolio in 2006. The Onfolio Writer team worked together with the Windows Live Spaces team to release Windows Live Writer.[3] After the release of Windows 8, Microsoft encouraged the team responsible for the software to focus on Metro-style apps, and the last major version of Windows Live Writer was released in 2012.[3]

On June 12, 2014, Scott Hanselman announced the idea of making Windows Live Writer open-source.[4] Nearly a year later, it appeared that open-sourcing the program was approved by Microsoft.[5] Later that year, .NET Foundation announced an open-source fork of Windows Live Writer.[3]

Initial announcement

On December 9, 2015, Scott Hanselman announced the forking of Microsoft's Windows Live Writer as an open-source project called Open Live Writer.[6] The announcement notes that the original Windows Live Writer 2012 application will remain a property of Microsoft and will continue to be offered as part of Windows Essentials while Open Live Writer will be developed independently as a separate project as part of .NET Foundation.[7] A downloadable preview version of the application was offered the same day[8] alongside the full source code on GitHub.[9]

On 27 September 2016, Open Live Writer became available on Windows Store.[10]

Version history

Legend:
Old version
Older version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release
Table of versions: Open Live Writer
Version Release date Highlights
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.5.0.0[11] December 9, 2015
  • Initial public release
  • Relatively unchanged from Windows Live Writer 2012 with the following features removed: Spell checker, "Blog This" API, and the "Albums" feature.[6]
  • Supported publishing platforms: WordPress.com, Hosted Wordpress, Google's Blogger.[11]
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.5.1.2[12] December 16, 2015
  • This release provided the initial version of Blogger support using their latest API to unblock users of Blogger.
  • Blogger categories/labels not yet supported.
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.5.1.3[13] December 22, 2015
  • This release provided some bug fixes and enhancements to the Blogger support based on feedback.
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.5.1.4[14] December 23, 2015
  • Minor update that addresses the bugs introduced in previous update
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.6.0.0[15] February 13, 2016
  • Added spell checking through the built-in spell checking functionality of Windows 8 and later.[16] This feature is not available on Windows 7.
  • Added support for categories when working with Blogger.
  • Bug fixes and general improvements
Current stable version: 0.6.2.0[17] May 23, 2017
  • Made available via Open Live Writer at the Windows Store. Updates are now installed through the Store rather than a built-in background updater.
  • Fix scaling of categories dropdown and options dialog
  • Implement per-monitor DPI Support
  • Add support to CSS3 templates

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Open Live Writer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)". .NET Foundationl. .NET Foundation. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  2. ^ Writer is Microsoft's first Live killer app
  3. ^ a b c ".NET Foundation - Live Writer is now Open Source". www.dotnetfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 2015-12-09. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  4. ^ "Windows Live Writer going Open Source? | WindowsObserver.com". Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  5. ^ "Microsoft to Open Source Windows Live Writer". winsupersite.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  6. ^ a b "Announcing Open Live Writer - An Open Source Fork of Windows Live Writer - Scott Hanselman". www.hanselman.com. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  7. ^ Staff, Beebom (10 July 2019). "How to Install Windows Essentials and Their Alternatives on Windows 10". Beebom.
  8. ^ "Open Live Writer". openlivewriter.org. Archived from the original on 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  9. ^ "OpenLiveWriter/OpenLiveWriter". GitHub. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  10. ^ Popa, Bogdan (27 September 2016). "Open Source Version of Windows Live Writer Now Available on Windows 10". Softpedia. SoftNews.
  11. ^ a b "Open Live Writer Roadmap". OpenLiveWriter on GitHub. .NET Foundation. December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  12. ^ "Release Blogger V3 API Support · OpenLiveWriter/OpenLiveWriter". GitHub.
  13. ^ "Release Additional Blogger V3 API Support and Fixes · OpenLiveWriter/OpenLiveWriter". GitHub.
  14. ^ "Release Blogger V3 Bugfix release · OpenLiveWriter/OpenLiveWriter". GitHub.
  15. ^ "Release 0.6.0.0 · OpenLiveWriter/OpenLiveWriter". GitHub.
  16. ^ Popa, Bogdan (27 September 2016). "Open Source Version of Windows Live Writer Now Available on Windows 10". softpedia.
  17. ^ "Release 0.6.2.0 · OpenLiveWriter/OpenLiveWriter". GitHub.

External links

Microsoft free and open-source software (FOSS)
Windows Live
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