Ranchero Software releases MarsEdit 1.0, new weblog editor for Mac OS X

Ranchero Software, creators of the RSS newsreader NetNewsWire, has released MarsEdit 1.0, a new weblog editor for Mac OS X. MarsEdit makes weblog writing like writing email, with each post edited in its own window, the ability to save posts as drafts, spell-checking, and a familiar Mac OS X interface. While designed to be easy to use for new webloggers, MarsEdit also includes features power-bloggers need: support for categories, text filters, trackbacks, custom templates, AppleScript, and more.

“MarsEdit is simple, intuitive, flexible, and customizable. It’s a very comfortable and efficient tool for writing,” said John Gruber of Daring Fireball in the press release. Other MarsEdit features include image and file uploading, a bookmarklet that lets you send a page from your Web browser to MarsEdit, and custom tags. “Our company uses blogs to track technical projects as well as business and partner development activities. MarsEdit has made it very simple to post to multiple blogs with a single, easy-to-understand interface, and including pictures and other files in entries couldn’t be simpler,” said Jack Barse, CEO, BCG Wireless in the press release.

MarsEdit works with a variety of weblog systems, including Movable Type, TypePad, Radio UserLand, WordPress, Blosxom, and many others. It also works with NetNewsWire and other newsreaders for OS X that include a post-to-weblog feature. The newsreader’s post-to-weblog command can be used to send a news item to MarsEdit, where it can be commented on and then posted to a weblog. MarsEdit replaces the weblog editor that was part of NetNewsWire 1.x. “We redesigned the weblog editing user interface from the ground up,” said Ranchero Software chief developer Brent Simmons in the press release.

MarsEdit is available for download at http://ranchero.com/marsedit/

MarsEdit 1.0 costs $24.95 (USD) for a single-user license. Multi-user licensing is available at $19.95 per user, for two or more users. MarsEdit is also available bundled with NetNewsWire 2.0 beta for $39.95. For licensed users of NetNewsWire 1.x, MarsEdit 1.0 and all MarsEdit 1.x updates are free.