Member Avatar for Danny

It’s finally here. The company that brought us Flash, Dreamweaver, Cold fusion, among others – announced that it will be shipping Macromedia Studio 8 in mid September. Absent from the new software suite will be Freehand, but two new other components will be added.

Here’s what is included: Flash Professional 8, Fireworks 8, Contribute 3, FlashPaper 2, and Dreamweaver 8, the flagship product. All are popular applications in the web development community, and have features that cater to all skill levels of developers. So why do we care? It has been said that this release will be one of the largest and most important releases in Macromedia history.

Focused on Dreamweaver

According to a Macromedia press release, Dreamweaver will offer more advanced visual editing tools for integrating XML-based content into websites and applications. The release also notes the visual management of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), designed to make CSS “more approachable to new users.

“The advances in Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 are the direct result of listening to customers around the world and then building a host of practical features to fit their needs, said Macromedia general manager David Mendels in the press release.

Macromedia is taking pre-orders for their new masterpiece. The full version is offered for $999, and current owners of Macromedia Studio can upgrade for $399. Both are available in either website download, or the company will ship a box at no extra charge.

Are you a financially challenged student or member of academia? Buy from the Macromedia store. Pay only $249 for Studio MX 2004, and get a free upgrade when Studio 8 comes out.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 268 Views
  • 15 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Dani

Dani AI

Generated

A few clarifying notes tied to the replies already here. ’s post reads like the original announcement; ’s scepticism about “ad tone” is fair; and ’s nod to the Adobe/Macromedia story matters because the buyout changed where these products ended up. For the record: Adobe announced the acquisition on April 18, 2005 (official filings/press text) and the transaction closed later that year. (sec.gov)

On the “content vs. Flash” point raised by : content-first design is still the right baseline. Plugin-only delivery has long accessibility and indexing drawbacks, and Flash in particular was retired by Adobe (end of life December 31, 2020), so relying on SWF-only content is brittle over time. Use progressive enhancement: publish meaningful HTML content first, then layer interactivity. Practical guides on the approach and accessibility cautions are available from MDN and WebAIM. (adobe.com)

If this thread is being read years later and someone is deciding whether to keep Studio-era workflows, use this checklist: keep source content in a portable, text-first form (XML/JSON/Markdown or a CMS), always ship the core text as HTML, and provide transcripts/HTML fallbacks for any multimedia or rich-content widget. Test with search crawlers and assistive tech, and plan migration paths (interactive pieces → HTML5/JS) rather than lock-in to proprietary assets. For practical migration/architecture reading, the progressive enhancement resources linked above are a good place to start. (progressiveenhancement.org)

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for benna

"Focusd on Dreamweaver" should probobly read "Focused on Dreamweaver"

This blog entry seems to me to be an ad for macromedia. Did they pay you for this? Their new "masterpiece"? Have you used it yet? So how do you know it's a masterpiece then?

Personally I'm rather tired of flash, and other such things. I want content. Wikipedia is the sort of innovation the web should be striving for. It is conceptually brilliant, yet simple in application. It doesn't look fancy, but it has great content. I can learn anything from that site. And yet, its all displayed in plain old HTML. The web needs more Wikipedias.

Member Avatar for Dani

I agree this blog entry does seem a lot like an ad. Danny's done one too many PRs in his lifetime. However, I am more interested in the semi-recent acquisition and merger between Adobe and Macromedia - now THAT is one powerful combination!

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.