When Macromedia released the first Dreamweaver almost three years ago it was welcomed with open arms by professional Web developers.

MACROMEDIA E-LEARNING STUDIO

Macromedia Flash (May 2002, page 60), Dreamweaver, Fireworks and FreeHand (Studio MX, November 2002, page 71), have all been given the MX treatment, and now it's Director's turn.

Macromedia Contribute (March 2003, page 57) caused considerable excitement with its ability to keep site content up-to-date, under control and within budget.

FreeHand has had a long, distinguished career since its launch 15 years ago, but time has caught up with it. While Macromedia concentrated development on its Web-oriented MX applications, FreeHand was put on the back burner and fell seriously behind its main rivals CorelDRAW (see issue 60, p54) and Adobe Illustrator (see issue 51, p88). So, is this latest release evidence of further decline, or has FreeHand finally risen to the challenge?

Macromedia Contribute is a program for managing and updating Website content and has been designed for businesses without access to technical Website administration resources. Therefore it's perfect for non-technical computer users for managing their Website.

Web Graphics

Macromedia made a play for eBay sellers this week by debuting a custom version of its Contribute 3 web content publishing application that's designed to speed the creation and upkeep of eBay stores.

A new interface, drawing engine and programming language, but surprisingly little new power.

Flash 3 is the solution for producing and delivering high-impact Web sites. Pulsing musical tracks, sound effects, gorgeous animations, and innovative interfaces all converge in Macromedia Flash. Deve

With Web Standard/Premium, Design Premium AND Macromedia’s products now absorbed into CS3, choosing the right suite is EASY.

A period of transition as Adobe deals with its Macromedia inheritance and the changing nature of the web.

Professional Web designers will frequently mix and match applications from two or more developers. It seems it is no longer good enough to bundle several applications together to form a single solutio

Director 8 Shockwave Studio is now the platform of choice for those sites determined to provide the richest possible Web experience

Media management gets a Macromedia-inspired makeover; with export preview facilities for mobile devices.

Who was Macromedia?

Impressive and free antivirus and antispyware package

Impressive and free antivirus and antispyware package

Benchmarking PCs is a tricky business. You need to ensure that you stress the systems, but also that the results you get will be relevant in the real world. Previously we have relied heavily on BAPCo's SYSmark2002 for simulating home and office use, with programs such as Excel, Word, Outlook, and web content through Adobe Premiere and Macromedia Dreamweaver. However, due to SYSmark's history of instability as well as the sheer length of time it takes to complete a run, we have put it on the backburner in favour of PCMark04 for this Labs.