Dateline: August 8, 2005
Macromedia today announced the release of their latest version of the powerful Web development software: Studio 8. This is an exciting release because they took an already powerful suite of products and looked at how their customers were using it. Based on that feedback they added features that makes it that much easier for you to design, develop, and maintain your Web pages.
Macromedia Dreamweaver 8
This may seem silly, but one of the first things Macromedia did was look at the name of their product. The last version was Dreamweaver MX 2004, and the version before that Dreamweaver MX. This was confusing. How do you know which version is the most up-to-date version? Well, the customers asked, and they went back to the clear and understandable version numbers. Macromedia Dreamweaver 8, Studio 8, Fireworks 8, and Flash 8 are the latest version of these products.
Dreamweaver 8 has a lot of improvements for both the professional Web designer and the more casual user. It offers you the familiar interface you're used to in Dreamweaver, but with more options, wizards and tools to make working with your Web sites that much easier. One of the things I like the best is how Dreamweaver 8 allows you to go from a visual comp provided by a graphic artist all the way through from development of the Web page or site to maintenance of that site.
Some of the great new features include:
- Visual authoring of XML data
XML data such as RSS feeds can be drag-and-droped into your Web pages. And if you want to use XSLT to transform the XML to your Web site style, it's easy to do with the code hints for XSLT built-in to Dreamweaver. - CSS layout visualization
Sometimes, designing with CSS can be difficult because you can't see where the edges of things are. Dreamweaver now includes guides and borders that are not part of your page to help you see where your CSS elements begin and end, so positioning and styling involves less guesswork. - Improved WebDAV
Dreamweaver now supports digest authentication and SSL for secure servers. While I haven't been able to test this yet, this should make it much easier to maintain secure servers while working in Dreamweaver. - Zoom
Now you can interact with Dreamweaver like you can with your favorite graphics programs, zooming in and out on the sections of the page that you need to focus on. - Coding toolbar
One of the things I missed in Dreamweaver from Homesite was the coding toolbar, but now it's here in Dreamweaver with common coding operations right at your fingertips.
Macromedia Flash 8
In Studio 8 you get a whole new version of Flash professional - version 8. This Flash version takes into account that there are more than one type of Flash developer out there, from the coder who works with Actionscript to the animator who creates Flash animations to the Web designer who wants Flash actions on her Web site.
Some of the great new features in Flash 8 professional:
- Alpha channels
Now you can film things on a green screen and then use Flash to put in different backgrounds with ease. Creating animations with transparency is now easier than ever - and doesn't involve drawing or cutting out your image. - Embedded cue points
Now you can treat your Flash movies like they were DVD movies, with scenes and cue points within the movie itself. - New optional drawing mode
If you're used to the drawing tools in software like FreeHnad or Illustrator, then the new optional Flash drawing tools will be really nice. It allows you to draw in Flash just like you're used to drawing in your illustration software. - New blend modes and filters
This gives you much more flexibility in your Flash applications and animations.
New Additions: Contribute and FlashPaper
Studio 8 now offers full versions of Contribute and FlashPaper to the suite. These additions allow you to get more out of your Web pages by making them more accessible across platform with FlashPaper and allows you to maintain your pages more effectively with Contribute. While FreeHand has been removed from the Suite, the addition of these two software packages more than makes up for that.
Studio 8 Details
All in all, Studio 8 should be a really nice upgrade. I look forward to seeing the full version and when I do I'll post a review.
- Price: $999
- Upgrade price: $399 for anyone with any down-rev version of Dreamweaver, Flash, or Studio.
- Available in stores: September 2005
