Dreamweaver 8 Software Review

Testing the Dreamweaver 8 software release from Macromedia

Even though it's a fairly bulky program, Dreamweaver 8 took only a few minutes to install. Once installed, Dreamweaver 8's layout looked very much like that of the MX 2004. Straightaway I felt at ease with the new release as I could see some very familiar code and design layouts, properties section and work space.

With over 3 million users, Dreamweaver still dominates the website design market primarily due to their simple but effective design approach. It was nice to see that the same simplistic approach is still present in this latest version.

The new starter pages are a typical example. For a website design beginner getting started with web design is very straightforward. The new layouts and designs allow users to go from installation to full site in no time at all.

The Dreamweaver 8 has improved CSS, XML and Flash video handling and various other enhancements such as the new zoom capability which some designers will find indispensable. The new zoom facility will allow for greater control over design work. You can zoom in to inspect an image or zoom out to review how a page will look overall.

In this version of the program, Dreamweaver 8 has introduced a stronger approach to working with XML files. It now means you can quite easily convert an XML file into a Web page. With the improved code hinting for XML, I was able to add RSS feeds into web pages using a simple drag and drop workflow.

The new, CSS panel is easier to work with on this version. All the CSS functionality is consolidated into one panel set and enhanced to make working with CSS easier and more productive.

There have been improvements made to the CSS layout visualization, CSS rendering and Style Rendering toolbar. Dreamweaver 8’s new support for CSS media types is quite impressive. Using the new Rendering toolbar you can now swap between seeing how a page will look on-screen, on a handheld or in print.

A very useful new Paste Special option lets you retain formatting for text and tables.
Dreamweaver 8 is faster and more stable than MX 2004 version.

Dreamweaver 8 comes with a very large help file, plus access to an excellent online support centre, with well-written Frequently Asked Questions section and tutorials. There are also free forums where you can chat with other users.

Macromedia have managed to present a much improved version of a very popular piece of software without upsetting it’s existing client base, in other words, people like me! I am happy with the new Dreamweaver 8 layouts and functions but am also very happy that they have retained the feel and the look of the older version that I am so familiar with.

Review by James Dunkley