Typepad, Promising New Blog Platform To Debut. Good news: The people who developed Movable Type are releasing TypePad, a hosted blogging service with sophisticated features on Monday, August 4. There will be three service levels, priced at $5, $9 and $15 a month. One of the developers, Anil Dash provided some insight into the difference between Movable Type and Typepad in an interview at A List Apart:
There’s a very simple way to decide whether TypePad or Movable Type are right for you. Movable Type is designed for businesses and power users who are comfortable managing their own servers and installing applications on them, or who have a need for customizing the code of the application itself. TypePad is designed for everyone else: basic to advanced users who want to focus on publishing their words, photos, and ideas without managing or installing any software.
The new software appears to have many superior features, but I couldn't determine from the Typepad web site if the service will allow custom domain names. It looks like they do not, because all the sample sites I saw were in this format: http://kookaburra.typepad.com/ If the service does not allow custom domain names, that will be a major weakness for serious bloggers. Still, because of the added features, including categories, it looks like Typepad will be a better choice than a Blogger-hosted site without a custom domain name.
Update: Typepad beta tester Tony Stephenson advises me that Typepad's promise that “Domain Mapping” will be “Coming Soon” is supposed to mean that the service will eventually support custom domain names. [net.law.blog]