MIcrosoft has released a beta of Windows Live Writer, a new WYSIWYG blog authoring tool which enables users to compose and manage blog entries on Windows Live Spaces as well as most other popular blogging services. Windows Live Writer is based on Onfolio Writer, which Microsoft acquired when it bought Onfolio lock-stock-and-barrel back in March 2006.
Windows Live Writer enables WYSIWYG blog editing by utilizing the same style sheet and layout information used in a users’ own blog, so the post they create in Windows Live Writer is (more or less) exactly what the user (and blog visitors!) will see in a Web browser. Windows Live Writer supports adding photos, screen, shots, maps, calendars, event listings, video, and audio to blogs via plug-ins (built with the Windows Live Writer SDK), and also offers a feature called Blog This which enables users to select information on a Web page and post it to their own blogs with attribution.
And, in a move which may reflect the products’ recent non-Microsoft provenance, Windows Live Writer supports non-Microsoft blogging systems and technologies like RSD (Really Simple Discovery), Metaweblog, and Movable Type, along with Blogger, LiveJournals, TypePad, WordPress, and many other systems.
Remember, the software is a beta release (so back up early and often!), and Microsoft hasn’t published any system requirements: we assume Windows Live Writer wants Windows XP.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.