Presence

Blogger relaunched today, complete with a snazzy user interface, new top-o'-the-line templates, improved URL formatting and comments! I took a look at the new features, via to my Blogger account, and overall the improvements look good. The comments leave a bit to be desired. For one, the default setting is to allow comments only from registered users of Blogger - this means, if you don't have a Blogger account, you can't leave a comment! The default should be "comments off", or "anyone can comment." I also don't like being redirected off the page I'm viewing; much better would be a pop-up window.

The new templates are very, very slick - already some older Blogger blogs have updated with the new look (check out Sweet Rose, for example). Blogger enlisted the help of some of the finest web designers out there to come up with templates that rival the smoothness previously the trademark look of SixApart/Typepad/MT blogs. So we owe a big thank-you to the people at SixApart; by setting the style bar so high, others like Blogger had to step it up a notch as well. Nothing like good old-fashioned competition.

MovableType (best when used via Baltiblogs!) remains the most powerful option; features like categories, plugins, trackback and search are still missing from the free Blogger package. But for a basic blog, Blogger is shaping up to be a more viable option. At this point, if I had to choose between Radio Userland and Blogger, I'd go with Blogger.