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- Prepare for a New Rivalry...Maybe
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Prepare for a New Rivalry...Maybe
For a little while, Dreamweaver will continue its "iPod" domination in the world of HTML editors. Hard-core Web designers see Microsoft’s entry in the professional designer arena as lightweight because of Microsoft’s lack of support for Web standards in the past and FrontPage’s reputation.
Designers view Web Designer as a FrontPage upgrade and pooh pooh it without taking a closer look. Ironically, also because of the new name, FrontPage users might not recognize the package and try Web Designer because they don’t see it as a FrontPage upgrade (which Web Designer really isn’t). Furthermore, such users traditionally don’t check out new software as soon as it’s released.
Web Designer has a higher learning curve than FrontPage. The application comes with templates to make it easier for such users to create Web pages without starting from scratch. But small businesses with specific design requirements might not find what they need in the templates. The FrontPage/nonprofessional designer crowd should recognize the drawing toolbar, which should help them get going.
An early look at the software and a review of public response shows no clear indication of who will make the switch to Web Designer or adopt it. Somasegar, a Microsoft employee, posted a response to a blog comment asking if Expression Web Designer is a replacement for FrontPage. He wrote, "Here is how I think about this. EWD (Expression Web Designer) is a NEW product for a new audience. EWD incorporates some of the best technologies from both VS (Visual Studio) and FP2003 to deliver this new, professional, standards-based surface. Existing FrontPage users can choose between Microsoft’s three product offerings for Web design/development: SPD (SharePoint Designer), EWD, VS."
In a smart move, Microsoft opened the beta of its Expression suite to the public for free. No one has anything to lose in evaluating Expression—if you decide you don’t like it, the only thing you’ve wasted is time.
With such odds, how can Microsoft compete with Dreamweaver? It can’t. At least, it can’t right now. Underdogs have come from behind to win the game, but Microsoft isn’t exactly an underdog. But with Adobe dominating the professional design market since absorbing Macromedia, Microsoft is a little fry in the world of professional design.
If Microsoft (a) offers a Mac version of Web Designer and (b) continues to provide Expression at no cost; then Adobe could be scrambling to innovate and stay ahead. If neither (a) nor (b) occurs very soon, Microsoft will still have a formidable hill to climb. Web Designer is good enough, however, to get in the ring with Dreamweaver. And it’s only in beta.