Meta: WordPress Apps For OSX & Windows

Today saw the launch of WordPress 4.4. For me this is significant as most of my writing for publication online ends up in WordPress.

Some time ago I documented my initial experience with the platform and hosting services. Since then I’ve grown to admire the WordPress team for delivering utterly seamless upgrades, and Lightningbase as a wonderful hosting company. This site is just passing three years live at Lightningbase.

While I spend a lot of time in WordPress, the actual writing most typically happens in Windows Live Writer.  I like the program for it’s simple functionality. I’ll have more on that in a post to follow tomorrow.

Recent changes in WordPress have included new back-end functionality that’s designed to facilitate more evolved front-end applications. The WordPress mobile apps (Android, iOS) have been around for a while. I’ve had one loaded to my Nexus 7 tablet for a long while, but never actually written anything substantial that way. I’ve tried a few times, but ultimately found the experience lackluster. 

Last week the WordPress team launched WordPress for OSX. Today they also launched WordPress for Windows. At first glance, the desktop apps closely resemble their mobile counterparts.

The apps require that the sites they access be running the Jetpack plug-in. In this manner they connect by way of a common login to WordPress.com. This is certainly quite different from a freestanding site, on one’s own host, accessed directly from an offline tool like Windows Live Writer.

I wonder how much traction these new tools will see on the desktop? I’ll surely give them a try and see if they can do anything to improve my workflow. I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has adopted them over other solutions.