Many years ago, Microsoft created a tool called Windows Live Writer. It was part of a larger family of products called Windows Live. The goal was simple: give people an easy way to express themselves and share their stories online. For bloggers, Windows Live Writer was a special gift. It was a desktop application that let you write and format your blog posts before publishing them online. It connected smoothly with popular blogging platforms like WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad.
However, as time went on, Microsoft’s focus began to shift. The company started moving towards new kinds of applications, especially after it released the Windows 8 operating system. While Windows Live Writer was still supported for a while, it wasn’t getting the updates it needed to keep up. The last official version, Windows Live Writer 2012, felt left behind as online editors from WordPress and other services became more powerful. Eventually, Microsoft stopped supporting the tool completely in 2017.
For the many writers who had grown to love the program, this was a problem. They appreciated its simple, offline writing environment. But thankfully, the story didn’t end there. A group of dedicated volunteers saw the value in Windows Live Writer and decided to give it a new life.
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A New Beginning: The Open Live Writer Project
Just when it seemed like Windows Live Writer was gone for good, something remarkable happened. A small group of engineers, some of whom worked at Microsoft, decided to revive the project in their spare time. They believed the tool was too good to disappear. On December 9, 2015, they announced that they were creating an “open-source” version of the program called Open Live Writer.
“Open source” means the program’s code is made public. Anyone with the right skills can look at it, learn from it, and even help improve it. Microsoft generously donated the original code to a non-profit organization called the .NET Foundation, which now supports the project. This meant Open Live Writer would be developed by the community, for the community. The volunteers quickly put together the first version and made it available for everyone to download.
This new version was separate from the old Windows Live Writer 2012, which remained a Microsoft product. Open Live Writer was a fresh start, built on the foundation of a beloved tool, but ready to move forward independently. It became available on the Windows Store in September 2016, making it easily accessible.
What Changed in the New Version?
When Open Live Writer was first released as version 0.5, it was a back-to-basics launch. The team had to make some difficult choices to get the project off the ground. Because they were now an open-source project, they couldn’t use certain technologies that were part of the original Microsoft version. This meant some features had to be removed, at least temporarily.
Spell Check
The original Windows Live Writer used a third-party spell-checking tool that the new project did not have a license for. The plan was to replace it with the built-in spell checker that comes with Windows 8 and newer versions. This meant that users on older systems like Windows 7 might not have a spell-check feature.
The “Blog This” API
This was a feature that worked as a plugin for web browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox. It was built on very old and complicated code that was difficult to maintain, so the team decided to remove it.
Photo Albums
The original program had a feature for creating photo albums that uploaded pictures to OneDrive. This relied on a library that was part of other Windows Live products. The team couldn’t get permission to include this library in an open-source release, so the feature was removed.
The team was very open about these changes. They explained that this was just the beginning. Their goal was to rebuild and improve the tool over time, with help from the community.
The Most Important Update: Keeping Bloggers Connected
One of the biggest challenges facing the new Open Live Writer team was a change made by Google. Google runs the very popular Blogger service, which many writers used with Windows Live Writer. Google announced it was upgrading its security and shutting down the old authentication system that Windows Live Writer used.
This was a major issue. Once the old system was turned off, anyone using Windows Live Writer 2012 would no longer be able to post to their Blogger blog. Their favorite tool would stop working for them.
This is where the Open Live Writer project became essential. The volunteer team worked directly with the Blogger team at Google. They updated Open Live Writer to support Google’s new, more secure authentication system, known as OAuth 2. This update ensured that Blogger users could continue to write and publish from their desktop. The old Windows Live Writer would never receive this update, making Open Live Writer the only path forward for those users. This single improvement saved the tool for a huge part of its user base and showed the power of the open-source community.
Open Live Writer in 2025
Today, Open Live Writer continues to be a useful tool for many bloggers. Because it is a voluntary project, development can sometimes be slower than for commercial software, and some have noted its official website can seem a bit dated. However, it remains a powerful and lightweight blog editor that offers a clean, “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) writing experience. This allows you to format your post and see exactly how it will look online, without the distractions of a web browser.
The project’s source code is still available on the platform GitHub, inviting developers to contribute. For writers who prefer a simple, focused desktop application for their craft, Open Live Writer is still a wonderful choice. Some content management systems have even added support for it, allowing users to create and edit website pages, not just blog posts.
While online editors have become very advanced, there is still a strong appeal for an offline tool. It lets you write from anywhere, even without an internet connection, and save drafts directly on your computer. For those who used and loved the original Windows Live Writer for years, Open Live Writer feels familiar and comfortable, like returning to a favorite desk [Original Content]. It successfully carries on the legacy of its predecessor, thanks to a passionate community that refused to let a great tool fade away.