My interest in Windows Live has been stirred again recently.  Not because I need it or use it much, but because a couple of people have mentioned things about it.

I love Live Writer.  I'm using it now.  It's really simple to use and gives a nice editing experience.  I can't get Word to work on dasBlog - it probably does but I don't have the time to futz around with it, especially when I already have Live Writer. 

However, it seems like Writer has been in beta longer than Linux's WINE project has been in Alpha.  I tried installing the full Live package and also just the latest Writer beta but:

I use 2003 server as my main machine at work, because:

a) it's what most of my software is developed for
b) it's very stable and familiar
c) there is no later server OS available in RTM

I think this is really poor!  Writer works fine on 2003 server - at least the beta version I have does.  Why was this changed?  Maybe because it's using some stuff from Vista that is not in 2003?  I think it's more likely to be a marketing decision.

As for the rest of Live, well, I'd like to try Live Mail but - as per above - I can't.  So I'll just stick with Google Mail on my own domain which works everywhere and works as well as (or better than) most Windows Client apps.

Update:  Chris pointed me to a different installer that has successfully updated Live Writer.  The web site in in German and the installer runs without any prompting, but it does actually work - I'm using Write beta 3 now!

On a more positive note, I've been pointed to a great new site for Windows Live,  http://www.viawindowslive.com.  It's a fantastic aggregation of articles, forums & links to all things related to Windows Live development and tools.  The site is a little rough around the edges, some content missing, but is still a great place to start and worth a book mark.