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"Easy to use, Simple Sensible Design" on by whanbury
Pros: Easy to use, includes a 1 hour training DVD
Cons: Doesn't have access to an integrated photo editor like Macromedia
Summary: When I installed Expression Web, I wasn't really sure what I'd be getting. I was pleasantly surprised to see a clean, fast interface upon launch. The layout looks somewhat like Dreamweaver but there's much more information and there's a great built-in CSS expression and link checker, and when there's a mistake, in code view, the errors show up in red. I had been a hard-core Dreamweaver/Fireworks user since v.4, but after Adobe bought Macromedia, the product and support went downhill. I hate the way Adobe feels compulsed to fatten up all its programs with extra coding that slows down the performance of the computer. Up until they bought it the program ran fine. Well, not the case with Expression. It runs fast and clean, without errors. I really like it. I'm not a professional web designer for occupation, but I know my way around pages, and I really like the way Expression is laid out. What reviewers don't mention is that there's a complimentary 1 hour DVD that hand walks you through all the basics of website design that was produced by Total Training, a company that specializes in video software training. There's also a handy pocket reference and a CSS Selectors book that stands up like a tent-sign. All in all a great product with extras that only a large company like Microsoft could afford to add to the software. I'm not going back to Dreamweaver ever! I also forgot to mention that this program creates lean and mean coding, not like its old predecessor FrontPage. My only complaint is that I wish Microsoft put out a Photo Editor that integrates with Expression Web the same way Fireworks integrates with Dreamweaver. Because I had a previous version of FrontPage, this upgrade was only $99. A new Dreamweaver suite is $500-900. An obvious choice! Try it, you'll like it.
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"A step forward for Microsoft, but still has issues." on by ted23
Pros: Cheaper than Dreamweaver. Good U/I. Good CSS support. More standards compliant than FrontPage. Excellent for those who use ASP technology.
Cons: FTP client is very poor. Still inserts too much Microsoft-specific coding.
Summary: I bought this after reading some good reviews of the product, and my version of Dreamweaver was getting very long in the tooth.
Expression Web does an adequate job as a tool for web editors. It has good tools for managing CSS, and the user interface overall is quite good. Some functions are somewhat less intuitive than Dreamweaver, but all-in-all it's not bad.
On the down side, the FTP support is atrocious. No support for secure FTP, the client often doesn't connect to the server, and when it does connect it is painfully slow. I gave up on using it to upload my pages and just went with a separate FTP client. Expression Web doesn't make a mockery of web standards like FrontPage did, but it still insists on inserting superfluous span tags and uses Microsoft-specific xml schemeas instead of more standard ones.
This is an OK web editor, but I'm thinking I may have been better off to spend a little more and get Dreamweaver. -
"ONE OF THE WORST!!" on by BRR
Pros: having a hard time finding anything good about it
Cons: Microsoft needs to go back to the drawing board on this one-------BRING BACK FRONTPAGE!!
Summary: What a disappointment! Being a FP fan, I was very excited with the announcement of Expression Web. When a company has a good program (Frontpage) and announces a new program within the same genre (Expression Web), one would assumed that the new program is an "new and improved" version of the old one. NOT SO IN THIS CASE!! EW is so full of holes and flaws and bad code that it is nearly impossible to design a site that works across browsers, and forget about "look and feel". There is NONE of the "Windows/MS Office/ MS Frontpage Feel" about this program, you had better plan on plenty of time learning how to use this program, or plan on spending thousands of dollars on professional training, 'cause your not walking in and picking up where Frontpage left off!!
Gawd I'd love to have all the money back I've spent on this program and on developer and web manager time and on training. I could have hired the best professional web designer and had one of the top sites on the internet with what Ive spent trying to make this program work.
GARBAGE!! -
"Easy to learn and powerful CSS" on by pbdrums
Pros: Easy to learn if you have used other WSIWYG editors. Powerful CSS, and clean html code.
Cons: Interface could be a bit cleaner, not available on MAC platform.
Summary: As a former user of Adobe GoLive CS3, I found Expression Web 2.0 to be easy to migrate to and fairly intuitive to navigate. I tried using Dreamweaver CS4, and I just didn't like the cumbersome interface and unintuitive controls for designing web pages. I think DW is more for seasoned programmers who tend to "hand code" most of their web pages. If you are a Graphic Designer who also builds websites, Expression Web is a great tool! It would be great if they made a MAC version...
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"Poor Software - again!" on by jester2372
Pros: There is very little this software offers that other FREE Web design applications offer.
Cons: Very difficult to layer and build the websites with this software. If you are god with HTML and CSS then you will have NO problems.
Summary: I purchased this software under the impression it was easy to use. The fact is, it is far from easy. If you know HTML then you will have absolutely no problem building a website. If you are not a programmer, forget it! This software has great potential but Microsoft decided to leave that out in Version 1-4.
It is truly sad when you have 3 images that you cannot easily layer on top of one another to create the Header with a Logo and a seperate layer of text. I had no problem with adding a background but then I decided to add a header that was 1150px X 185px. There is no place to center it in the image properties. If I knew HTML, I could have modified the code.
Eventually I was able to get the image to center but I had to change the image width to 1260px.
Now I add my Logo - .png file over the top of the header. This worked fine and I was able to alter the verticle distance to center it. I could not drage the image where I wanted it as this would have been a beneficial feature. Now that this is done I have two items to add to the header section: 1) an image file (text) that will help fill in the extra space and 2) a Log in section.
I tried to add a new layer and insert the text image over the right side of the header. It automatically inserts it below the header on the right side. What a pain in the A$S! I spent another 2.5 hours trying to get this to work with no luck. I watched tutorials which none of them show anything similar and I will never get that time back.
Why is it so difficult to build a web design software that is actually easy to use. If I want to add 22 images to one area, I should be able to do this. If I want to insert a log in feature that controls certain pages in my website, I should have this functionality.
I can only wait to see how difficult it will be to insert a shopping cart and make my images Pop up in a new window as a larger view without opening a new browser window or tab.
WEAK!!! CHEAP!!!!! JUNK!!!!!
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