Software

On the surface, Dreamweaver is an easy-to-use Web-page editor and site design tool, supporting all basic page elements. However, it has enough depth to build sophisticated sites with features such as forms, Flash files, frames, cascading style sheets, and ActiveX and Java controls, just to name a few. It offers WYSIWYG editing as well as access to HTML source code.

In version 3.0, editing HTML files has been improved with added support for styles, and an HTML source code inspector, which can be docked (like a Window palette). HTML code can be block-edited in this window as well, by selecting entire lines and dragging them to a new destination.

URLs in imported Flash movie files can now be edited in Dreamweaver 3.0, making it easier for a site administrator to change links in Flash files. Synchronizing local and remote site files works in both directions, ensuring that the latest version of a file is saved on both local hard drives and remote servers.

A history palette has been added as well, and all file editing is recorded and listed. Actions can be undone (like multiple undo) and saved as an action for reuse on other files.

There are more changes and additions that let Dreamweaver work more closely with other Macromedia tools (Flash and Fireworks) and additional HTML-generation tools. We also noticed an improved handling of imported elements. Group-project manageability has been improved via the check-in/check-out file system, and most of Dreamweaver's menus and shortcuts are customizable, making for a better user experience. --Mike Caputo

In many ways, LiveMotion is a better tool for creating vector-based animation than Macromedia's Flash, its very popular competitor. Using a timeline/keyframe metaphor, LiveMotion makes it easy to animate the properties of an object over time. Position, scale, opacity, and rotation all can be controlled with relative ease. It's also painless to create HTML elements, such as animated rollovers for menus and graphics.

However, if you come from a Flash background, you might be a bit disappointed with LiveMotion. For starters, there are no scripting features. Also, LiveMotion's compression isn't quite as good as that of Flash. In a test in which the same animation was exported from both Flash and LiveMotion, the .swf file that was created by LiveMotion was about 15 percent larger. Because file size and download rates are so critical to Web-based graphic design, it's important to be aware of this type of issue.

Despite these shortcomings, we found it easier to draw and animate by using LiveMotion. Superior (in both form and function) Bezier drawing tools make it a snap to set up ready-to-animate graphics. Again, Adobe has kept LiveMotion's "feel" in the family by ensuring that the drawing functions are very similar to those of Illustrator.

If you're looking to create high-quality, interactive Web content, Flash might be the way to go, especially if you're more familiar with Macromedia's look and feel. However, if animation--and not interactivity--is the goal, and you have experience with Adobe's other products, LiveMotion should be a good fit. All in all, this is a very good first release. --Mike Caputo--This text refers to the Mac version of this software.

The main working area of the program deliberately looks much like other Adobe applications, making it easy to move between them. The main editing windows float on the GoLive worktop, with palettes of functions controlling the tools. Users can now drag and stash palette tabs individually at the edge of the screen.

The key new features of GoLive 6.0 can be divided into three areas. Under the design-and-develop category comes greatly improved table handling, with new editing features--particularly selection--and increased control of HTML code. Adobe has also integrated GoLive more closely with Photoshop, Illustrator, and LiveMotion.

Manage functions govern how several people working on same aspect of a site handle different versions and revisions. The revision list is a good example, as it offers full details of who made certain changes to what, along with the time the changes were entered.

Finally, there's the deploy function, for when you finally launch your site. This feature offers new and improved support for WML authoring, writing for display on WAP devices, XML, QuickTime, and more of the growing family of Web standards.

Overall, GoLive is a worthwhile improvement if you're thinking about upgrading from a previous version. For newbies, make sure you're serious about Web site management, as this is a heavyweight tool. --Simon Williams

The Web Workgroup Server site management and collaboration tool lets multiple users track changes--as well as share and manage files--with ease. It adds version control and side-by-side comparison capabilities, including the ability to roll back to previous versions. Designers will also find full support for any WebDAV-enabled application in GoLive 6.0, including support for programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Macromedia Dreamweaver.

Other development features include a QuickTime 5.0 editing environment with streaming conversion and optimization capabilities. There's also a visual authoring environment utilizing video, audio, SWF, and SVG with support for W3C standards (including SMIL). GoLive 6.0 even adds the ability to deliver database-driven content and native support for common dynamic scripting languages, including PHP, ASP, and JSP. And, as always, GoLive integrates tightly with Adobe's entire family of professional design products.

• Sold Individually

Product Description
Microsoft Data Analyzer 2002 - complete package
Category: Business applications
Subcategory: Business - data analysis & business intelligence
License Type: Complete package
License Qty: 1 user
License Pricing: Standard
Language(s): English
Localization: North America
Platform: Windows
Distribution Media: CD-ROM
Package Type: Retail
OS Required: Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows 2000 or later, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 SP6 or later
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• Suite includes Dreamweaver 4, Fireworks 4, Flash 5, and FreeHand 10
• Fireworks 4 for creating and optimizing Web graphics
• Powerful productivity features for graphic designers with FreeHand 10

A warning before continuing: in testing this product, it crashed twice, the second crash resulting in a significant loss of data. Most frustrating, the company provided no option for phone support, and the online support was woefully inadequate.

But if you are new to Web publishing, NetObjects Fusion is still a very good tool to get you started. The crashes we encountered came in testing some Javascript features, which can easily be left out of simple Web sites. The program also comes with literature for a whole host of add-in products that make creating your first Web site even easier. If you are an experienced Web developer, you may want to look at Allaire's Homesite 4.0, but for beginners looking for a robust Web authoring tool, NetObjects Fusion is a strong choice for business application. --Rob Frankland

• Director: integrates, controls, and delivers media created from the studio's content creation tools
• Fireworks: creates graphics in a robust design and production environment
• Sound editor BIAS Peak LE: creates and edits sound for use in Director
• Behavior libraries: quickly and easily creates interactivity in Director
• Shockwave Multiuser Server 2: delivers multiuser experiences and multiplayer games on the Internet

First, it includes Sun's commercial quality StarOffice 6.0 office suite, which provides word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, Web-page editing and vector drawing applications along with remarkably complete support for MS Office file formats--which means you can continue to use your existing files. StarOffice's native file formats are all XML based for compatibility with any XML-based applications.

The second string to SuSE Linux Office Desktop's bow is Codeweaver's Crossover Office, which enables you to install and run MS Office under Linux (apart from FrontPage) along with other Windows programs. This is impressively efficient.

To further make migration easy for end users and companies SuSE includes new software assistants that make networking a breeze. Installation on either a clean PC or alongside Windows is simple. On a Windows machine you can resize partitions--including under XP--without losing data.

Internet setup via modem, ISDN, DSL, and LAN is part of the installation process along with establishing network connections, or, as with everything, you can do it at any time using Yast2. KDE 3 is the default desktop, but the Gnome implementation is also excellent.

SuSE Linux Office Desktop isn't quite as polished as Windows, but most PC users could make the swap with little trouble. If you're one of the vast majority of word-processing, Internet-accessing PC users you can do more for less with SuSE Linux Office Desktop than with a basic Windows system. --Steve Patient