Technical Writers (XML Experts) are NOT restricted to use the DITA Exchange XML Editor if they prefer other tools.

A Technical Writer can at any point in time download a single topic, a single ditamap or a complete publication (consisting of a ditamap, all referenced topics and all referenced graphics) and work with the content off-line.

When the job is done, the content can be loaded back up to DITA Exchange as new version - preserving the original audit trail of both topics, ditamaps and graphics.