Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 - Popular Pick

Macromedia Dreamweaver provides the productivity of a visual Web page layout tool, the control of an HTML text editor, and support for Dynamic HTML in one professional, easy-to-use package.

Dreamweaver can be used seamlessly with Macromedia Flash, Fireworks, and Director to develop engaging Web content. Develop sites collaboratively, separating content from design with XML and Dream Templates. Make complex site-wide changes quickly with a site map, global search and replace, and automatic link management.

This latest release includes: Macromedia Flash text and buttons; a JavaScript debugger; a Site Reporter to quickly identify and fix errors, and more.This is a 30-day trial version of Dreamweaver.

Dreamweaver MX will sport an improved layout, sources said, and will also show off the new interface that is visible in both Flash MX and Fireworks MX.. Like those apps, Dreamweaver will have docking panels, but also will be able to take the layout of its previous release, version 4.

It will also include a new feature called the Snippets panel, allowing you to easily add pieces of HTML and Javascript code. It will be able to store and draw upon any piece of code -- even server-side code -- sources said.

The CSS styles panel will also show improvements, with design-time style sheets to make page editing easier. In addition, Dreamweaver MX will distinguish between locally-defined styles and those defined externally. Enhancements will also be visible in Dreamweaver's templates, which will show tweaks in the MX release.

Coders will also see several time-saving benefits of Dreamweaver MX, which will provide lists of tag attributes and parameters, object properties, and hints for custom tags.

In code view, Dreamweaver MX will enable the editing of properties of each tag using tag-editor dialog boxes. Finally, Dreamweaver MX will feature improved support for ColdFusion, PHP, JSP, and ASP.NET.