You can download your own copy of Windows Live Writer along with all of the other Windows Live Essentials applications from the Windows Live site.

Note: I used Windows Live Writer Beta for this article.

If you already use Windows Live Writer to compose your blog posts you will find that the upgrade will be seamless and all of your drafts, blog accounts, and preferences will all be saved.

Windows Live Writer Beta Ribbon

One of the biggest changes to Windows Live Writer Beta from the previous version is the inclusion of Ribbon we have grown accustomed to in Office 2007 and Office 2010. As a long time Live Writer user I was a bit disappointed by this change because I am so used to having the tools pane on the right of the screen. It takes some getting used to, but I still liked the ability to edit picture dimensions, add a watermark, etc. without having to go through another menu. With the beta version of the application, you have to select the image you want to edit and then click on the Format tab in the Ribbon…this tab should automatically appear when the picture is selected at all times, this only occurs if you have done it before.

Windows Live Writer Previous Version

Don’t get me wrong, using the Ribbon across all Microsoft products makes it easy for users from one application to jump to another and not feel lost. I was able to pick up the menu real quick and find what I was looking for right away…thanks to my experience with Office 2007 and Office 2010 applications. The four menus found in the previous application have been condensed to one.

They have also changed the location of the Category, Tags, and Publish Date from the bottom of the application window to directly below the Ribbon, which makes a ton of sense…I don’t know how many times I have hit Publish without using categories or tags because it simply did not stand out. I think the location is perfect and it has certainly helped me categorize and tag my posts before even getting started with the article.

One of the most useful and exciting features introduced in this version of Live Writer is native video support. When you click on the Video button in the Home or Insert tab you will have three options:

From the web – A link to any video online.

From your computer – This will allow you to select a video from your computer to upload to YouTube.

Form video service – It looks like YouTube is the only video service that is natively supported by Live Writer, would be great if Video Jug, Vimeo, and others made it on the list.

Inserting videos from the web is as easy as copying and pasting a link. Live Writer takes care of everything else.

If you want to use a video file from your computer, you must sign in to your YouTube account, select the file and enter the video details just as you would when using YouTube via the browser.

You also have the option to use videos directly from your video service account (in this case YouTube).

Aside from videos, Windows Live Writer will allow you to use Emoticons within your posts, simply click on the Insert Tab and select the Emoticon you wish to include. You can also type the short code for the emoticon and it will automatically appear.

Emoticon menu in Windows Live Writer Beta.

Microsoft Are You Listening?

In case the Live Writer Development Team is listening…

Here are a couple of things that would make this a killer blog publishing platform for anyone running a blog.

1. Add floating menus similar to those found in Office applications for media and text.

This would be a great option when editing picture dimensions, adding watermarks, and choosing styles.

2. Allow me to change the default location for Drafts and Saved blog posts. Right now I can use hard links to modify this so that all of the files are on the server, but I would like to be able to use a cleaner option.

3. Add more video providers so that we have a choice when uploading videos.

4. Give me more options with Photo Albums, I don’t want to pollute my SkyDrive with stuff from my blog. Can the album be generated using a Windows Photo Gallery and then added as a video?

5. Ribbon customization a la Office 2010.

Closing Thoughts

I think that the Windows Live Writer Team has a great product, WLW always has been and they are taking it to the next level. The addition of video upload and native video support were long overdue. The inclusion of the Ribbon will make Offfice users more comfortable and long time Live Writer users annoyed, but don’t worry we’ll get over it quick . Incorporate some of the suggested features, integrate it with WordPress even further (the largest blogging platform in the Word) and you will have a hard time finding competition.

Due to the number of different email clients out there, I will limit the instructions to just get you to the settings page to edit the signatures. I will be including a link to relevant posts describing the process of customizing the signatures along with each client when available.

Did I miss an email client in the list below? Please add the name of the email client in the comments below.

Make sure to bookmark this page because I will be updating it with new clients and suggestions from readers.

Desktop Clients

• Outlook 2010
• Outlook 2007
• Windows Live Mail
• Outlook Express 6
• Thunderbird 3
• Apple Mail

Web Email Clients

• Gmail
• Hotmail
• Yahoo! Mail

Mobile Clients

• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 3.2

Microsoft Outlook 2010

1. Click on File.

2. Click on Options from the menu.

3. When the Outlook Options window appears, click on the Mail in the left pane.

4. Click on the Signatures button to the right.

The Signatures and Stationary window will open.

Microsoft Outlook 2007

1. Click on Tools to open the menu.

2. Click on Options…

3. When the Options window opens, click on the Mail Format tab.

4. Click on the Signatures button to edit your email signatures.

Windows Live Mail

1. Click on the Menus button located on the top-right corner of the application window.

2. Click on Options from the menu.

3. When the Options window opens, click on the Signature tab.

You will now be able to add or edit your email signatures.

Microsoft Outlook Express 6

1. Click on Tools to open the menu.

2. Click on Options.

3. When the Options window opens, click on the Signatures tab to edit your signature.

Thunderbird 3

1. Click on Tools to open the menu.

2. Click on Account Settings.

Apple Mail

1. Click on the Options/Settings icon.

2. Click on Edit “Email Account Name…” form the menu.

3. Click on the Signatures button.

4. The Signatures page will open.

Gmail

1. Click on the Settings link on the upper right corner of the page.

2. Make sure the General tab is active.

3. Scroll down and you should find the Signature options box.

Hotmail/Live Mail

1. Click on Options to open the menu.

2. Click on More options.

3. Click on Personal e-mail signature.

4. You can edit the email signature for Hotmail by adding your personal email signature.

Yahoo! Mail

The screenshots below are for the version of Yahoo! as of this writing.

1. Click on the Options link.

2. Click on the More Options… from the menu.

3. Click on the Signature link.

4. The edit signature page will appear.

iPhone 3GS

These steps should cover the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

1. Tap on Settings in the Home Screen.

2. Tap on Email, Contacts, Calendars.

3. Tap on Signature.

4. You can customize the signature for your iPhone on this page.

iPad OS 3.2

Although similar to the iPhone instructions above, there are some slight variations in the screenshots used so I decided to post an individual how-to just for the iPad.

1. Tap on Settings.

2. Tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

3. Tap on Signature.

4. Enter the signature you would like to use.

If you have any comments please post them below or if you need help visit our forums.

Note: I used Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows Live Photo Gallery, and Windows Live Movie Maker for this tutorial.

To Download Windows Live Movie Maker and Windows Live Photo Gallery visit Microsoft. com

Create a Movie Slide show with Windows Live Movie Maker

1. Select the photos you wish to include in the movie slide show and click on Make located in the toolbar.

2. When the drop-down menu opens click on Make a movie…

Note: Make sure that the images you wish to use are located on your computer and not on a network location. You will receive an error prompting you to copy the images to your computer.

After clicking on Make a movie the Windows Live Movie Maker program will open.

In this tutorial we are focusing on the use of the AutoMovie feature and how easy it is to use.

3. Once your photos have loaded, click on the AutoMovie button located in the Ribbon under the Home tab.

4. To continue with the creation of the video, click OK when prompted by the dialog box above.

Note: You can disable this warning in the future by adding a checkmark to the Don’t show this message again checkbox.

5. Since we never added music to the slide show Live Movie Maker would like to know if we would like to add music to the movie. In this case we want to add music so click Yes.

6. The Add Music dialog box will appear, locate the song you wish to add and select it.

7. Click on the Open button to add the song to your movie.

Note: Like the images above make sure that the music you wish to use is located on your computer and not on a network location. You will receive an error prompting you to copy the music to your computer.

8. When AutoMovie is complete you will see the message box above, click Close to proceed.

Note: You can disable this message in the future by adding a checkmark to the Don’t show this message again checkbox.

When AutoMovie is finished you will notice several things about the images you added to Movie Maker;

a. You will notice that the song you added is now listed above the images in your movie (green bar)

b. There is an introduction slide with a text box, which is customizable.

c. All of the images that you added including the intro and ending slide have transitions.

d. There is a credit slide with a text box, which is customizable.

9. To customize the introduction slide, click on the slide itself from the slide sorter (pane to the right).

10. Double-click on the text box and edit the text. You also have the ability to format the text within the box.

11. To customize the credit slide, click on the slide itself from the slide sorter (pane to the right). If you don’t see the credit slide you may have to scroll all the way to the bottom.

12. Double-click on the text box and edit the text. You also have the ability to format the text within the box.

Saving the Movie File

Once you are satisfied with the movie you customized it’s time to save the movie. Windows Live Movie Maker provides users with 7 options for saving their movie.

13. To save the movie, click on the File menu.

14. Click on Save movie from the menu

15. Choose a save option that suits your needs.