Free! Dreamweaver 8: Part of the Family

We made it!  This both Number 15 and Number Last in our series on Dreamweaver 8!  For this last look at the new Generation Next, I wanted to show you a quick glimpse of the rest of the family:  the incomparable Macromedia Studio 8!  All will be available as trial downloads (and purchase downloads as well) by the time you read this article, and I can’t wait for you to meet them all!

You already know Dreamweaver 8 through this series.  Fireworks 8 is its little sister and does for web graphics what Dreamweaver does for page coding.  The new version features blend modes, new pop up menus, new panels and gadgets all designed to make your web graphics award-winning and wonderful!

Big Brother Flash Professional has forever changed the way we see video on the web.  Complete with support for alpha channels in both the tool and the player, there is nothing better on the market short of a television editing bay and they cost somewhere around $35,000.  And that’s just one thing it does!  Flash has outflashed itself with this one!

And little baby Contribute has joined her Studio family to complete the picture with site maintenance abilities that are second to none.  She replaces Freehand in the Studio, making it a complete web application software suite.

And then there are the goodies.  Flash Paper for quickly creating Flash documents or PDF ones.  Flash Video Encoder for creating Flash video to fit on your web pages.  Cold Fusion Server 7 for testing your dynamic sites to make sure they’re ready for prime time.  And HomeSite + .. still the best code only tool out there! 

This article talks about Family .. this article tells you why you need to get to know them .. and this article thanks you for allowing me to be a part of your reading program for awhile. 

See you on the forums!

Nancy Gill

Team Macromedia for Dreamweaver 8/MX2004/MX/UltraDev

This article is part of the new interactive e-book; Dreamweaver Crystal Gazer: The Power Of Dreamweaver 8

What do I need to use this Studio?

There are some other changes that are important to discuss in this version of the Macromedia Studio also.  The system requirements have changed because, as programs mature and allow for more advanced features and take advantage of more advanced technology, some of the things of the past have to, of necessity, drop off.  Unfortunately, it's just not possible to do everything with one tool and do it well.  This version is no exception and, in order to raise the bar, the lower end had to disappear.  Therefore, Macromedia Studio 8 no longer supports Windows 98.  Your Windows Operating System must be either Win 2000 or XP (or 2003) and have a 600 MHz Intel Pentium III processor or equivalent.  The RAM recommendation has also been raised to require 256 kb with 1 gb recommended if more than one Studio product is to be run simultaneously, but before that scares you to death, let me tell you that I have no problem whatsoever with my machine that only has 512 mb.  I can run both Fireworks and Dreamweaver at the same time with no noticeable difference, but I shut one of them down if I need Flash for my application.  Anything less than that is going to create slowdown, however, and possible non-response because the system just can't keep up.  The price we pay for getting more!

The MacIntosh requirement is 500 MHz PowerPC G3 processor with an operating system of Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later. 

Why Upgrade?

I have to talk about this because every time a new Macromedia Studio comes out, the forums are full of this type question.  "I'm doing fine with the old one . . why would I want this one?"  I don't suppose "because I said so" is going to fly, so here are some of the reasons you have to upgrade:

1. The Site Stuff .. File Compare, Synchronize, Accessibility, Background FTP (circle that one!)
2. Unified CSS .. do it for this one alone.  You will and I mean WILL throw away your 3^rd party CSS tool once you spend a few days with this one.  It's so fast and the CSS rendering is so much better than the old version.
3. XML Integration.  I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on this .. and I wasn't disappointed.  You may THINK you have no reason to work with data in the XML format, but you will be astounded at the number of applications you can think of once you get started.  It's so portable and easy to use as opposed to lumbering around with a database strapped to your ankle.  DO it .. and you won't look back. 

NOTE:  I am in no way suggesting here that databases are a thing of the past.  Databases are wonderful tools, but XML solves a lot of problems for a little data, data inside Flash, etc. 

4. PHP5.  this is a big draw if you use it already .. and there are a lot of reasons to use it, as long as you have a host that agreed with you that "cutting edge was best".   I just love it when my tools support the new technology and Dreamweaver 8 supports this one well.
5. Code Collapse.  I am not sure how long we have waited for this one, but it was worth it.  You can collapse by tag, by section, inside a tag, outside a tag; you can just collapse your heart out until you .. well .. collapse!  Well done, Macromedia!  The coder in me thanks you from the bottom of my heart!
6. Coding Toolbar.  This is just a very nice touch right along the left side of Code view.  Quick one-click icons to coding functionality we need every day put right there in front of us.  A fine solution to "My insert bar only works in Design View!"
7. Accessibility made Accessible.  Some very nice accessibility features in this one.  While I don't personally develop a lot for the target audience on this one, I wholeheartedly applaud the need to make content available to anyone who wants to read it, including those challenged a little extra.  Thank you, Dreamweaver Team!
8. Customization got more customizable.  Edit/Preferences is bigger.  You can do more things "your way" and who doesn't like that?  This in and of itself is one of the biggest reasons to choose Dreamweaver over the others guys.  I used Notepad for a lot of years because I couldn't find a tool that would let me work the way I wanted and needed to work and I found it in Dreamweaver .. 3, I think.  Since then it's only gotten better and more personal and Dreamweaver 8 is carrying on the tradition well. 
9. Cold Fusion without having to jump over to the Administrator every time you turn around.  Man, that is really worth something!  The site setup and data connection tasks are all integrated right into the DW interface.  I did not, I SWEAR, use the Cold Fusion Administrator even once in preparing the chapter for this book on Cold Fusion.  I would have never thought it possible!
10. Fireworks – blend modes, reworked popup menus that WORK, new panels that let you go hog wild, new brushes .. vector graphics does NOT get any better than Fireworks!
11. Flash – I wouldn't know where to start .. read the DMX Zone book on Flash 8!  Seriously, the alpha channels in Flash video have literally given us the opportunity to produce what previously you had to have a TV editing bay for about $35,000 to even come close.  That's my favorite thing about Flash Professional 8 . I'll let the DMX Zone book on Flash to the rest for you!

Is that enough?  By the time you read this, the trial download will be available .. please run .. don't walk .. to the Macromedia site to see for yourself.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

It has been a pleasure to have been given the opportunity to present this guided tour of the new Dreamweaver 8 to you.  It is my hope that I have leant a bit of insight into the features and plusses of the program as well as conveyed to all of you reading the series a bit of my enthusiasm for what I feel is the "best out there!"  And, as often is the case, the best keeps getting better! 

I hope everyone reading this series will upgrade (and no, I'm no longer an affiliate so it doesn't go into my pocket!) to Version 8 and see for yourself how a talented group of programmers at Macromedia take a vision and turn it into software.  This is my third trip into the next generation and I still feel like the proverbial kid in the toy store with my eyes staring in amazement!

Thanks for reading!  I can't wait to see what you develop with your copy of Macromedia Dreamweaver 8!