Fireworks basically does the graphics-based stuff that HTML editors don't handle (or at least the stuff that you would have to spend hours fiddling with manually in most editors). I've used an older version of Fireworks for a year or two. This new one didn't seem to add anything earth-shattering, except that it now supports the Macromedia Extension Manager, allowing you to more easily use material from the Macromedia Exchange. It can open, edit, and export Photoshop files, too.

(Drumroll please...) Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver MX is actually two products that are now fused into one: Allaire's Homesite/Studio product, used primarily by coders and Web applications developers, and Dreamweaver UltraDev, geared more toward Web designers needing visual tools. Dreamweaver itself was primarily a visual Web design application until the UltraDev version came along in 2000 to add tools for ASP, JSP, and CF. I've been using Homesite/CF Studio since before it was an Allaire product, and I have always appreciated that it's CF-centric.

Now I have to tell you, I clicked on the Dreamweaver icon with a bad attitude. Not Macromedia's fault, mind you. When I first tried it, I just didn't need Dreamweaver; a colleague was trying to get me to switch, and I was too busy. On top of that, I'd had the dubious experience of using visual Web tools in the past, and most of them were laughable if not downright travesties.

My attitude changed (just a tad) when Dreamweaver asked me if I'd prefer the MX workspace (with Homesite/coder style) or the DW4 workspace. Now, I've said that one thing that bugged me about Dreamweaver was all those windows all over the place. All those layered windows and floating/docking toolbars just made me uncomfortable. Maybe it doesn't bother you, but I can't concentrate in that environment.

It was a relief to see that Dreamweaver MX includes a familiar interface. The Homesite/coder-style interface feels a lot like CF Studio; it's closed in and divided into nice, neat little boxes, just as I like. If you like it the old way, choose the Dreamweaver 4 style.

I started by working on a little personal project that's been on my mind. First I needed a page (one with simple navigation), then I needed a fairly straightforward form, and then I needed to insert the form into a data source. Finally, I needed to display the contents of the database. This is all bread-and-butter CF code-not complicated. I thought it was a good test for an unfamiliar product.

As I was already in the design view, I decided to first create the tables that would form the structure of the page. Click the "insert table" icon, so many rows, so many columns, width, border. Resize the cells a little... voilá! Okay, so now I have the basic structure of my page, with a title row, a nav column, a big cell for content, and a footer bar. Add some styles (I really like creating CSS styles in DW. Once you know where stuff is, it's really simple). Add some nav hyperlinks, create an editable region for content, and then save the whole thing as a template (see Figure 1). Easy.

If you're not familiar with how Dreamweaver works, then you should know that templates will probably save your life when you have a deadline of one hour ago and not one page to show for it. Templates allow you to save blocks of common code (like the basic structure of a Web site). For each new page you create, all you have to do is add the specific content for that page (you mark the content area as an "editable region"), and then save it. With Dreamweaver, you can slap a site together in almost no time at all, and it'll look pretty good, too.

Creating my data input form in visual mode was just as easy. I created another table, inserted a form tag, added form labels, and then started dropping in form elements. This will be nothing new to you CF Studio users. Dreamweaver has a similar "form" toolbar. You click an icon and it drops the form element at the cursor. The "properties" window (yes, the very one that bugged me when I first used DW) allows you to modify the parameters of any element. Maybe once I had mellowed to DW, I just found the properties window to be no different than coding it in text. Or maybe using WYSIWYG to create forms can be fun! Either way, I had the basic stuff done quickly using the visual design tools.

Here's another neat toy I found: Dreamweaver MX includes an "Application" toolbar with a "record insertion form." Essentially, you supply it with a data source and table, it asks which fields you would like to populate, and what their labels should be, then codes the form and the insert query into your page (see Figure 2). This is one of those "pick and shovel" tasks that I almost always dread when building an application for the Web. Okay, I'll admit that at this point, my attitude had gone 180 degrees.

The code Dreamweaver builds is nice, but I wanted to tweak it a little. This is when I switched into code view. Dreamweaver has three views: design view, code-and-design (a split window), and code view. Now here's what really bugged me about UltraDev: despite all the CF tools, UltraDev lacked one feature that made me stick with Homesite/CF Studio for years... tag hints.

Very simply, you type in a tag - say, CFOUTPUT - and a list of available parameters pops up. I feel that it improved my productivity, but UltraDev didn't have it. With Dreamweaver MX, you get that, plus the added bonus of hints for function parameters. That was a pleasant surprise. Dreamweaver's hints also include event handlers like onClick for HTML elements.

Now I started hand-coding the results page. I was only coding this for a short while when I thought: If Dreamweaver will automate an insertion, why wouldn't it automate a simple SELECT query? I hunted around, and sure enough, not only will it build the search query, it will build the table and supply the code to "show next n records" to navigate the results! Another "pick and shovel" task had just been reduced to a few clicks. Once I figured out how to use these automated features, I almost told my fiancée to cancel her plans, 'cause I was going to marry Dreamweaver! (I am kidding!)

After playing with all my new toys, I decided to give MX a spin on some of my older Web apps. I'm sure you have one or two. You know: the big, nasty, ugly legacy stuff that you maintain mostly because it still works, but that you'd love to just tear down and rewrite some year. I was disappointed that Dreamweaver started to really slow down when I started opening, searching, and saving big files (and not really that big: some were only 500 lines).

The more files you open, the slower it responds. This got tedious since some of this app's pages run to 1000 or 1500 lines. These days, my apps tend to use lots of smaller files, but if your .cfm files tend to be big, you'll probably want to break them up before you edit them in MX.

Conclusion
Increasingly, Web sites are required to be much more than static design. Even the added dynamic elements provided by ColdFusion are not enough for today's evolving, content-rich sites. Whether you're a Web designer or an application developer, you've probably needed to cross the line between the two. In my experience, my ColdFusion application is as likely to have Javascript and DHTML elements as it is to have HTML forms. XML, JSP, PHP, and other technologies are more commonly found working together in today's professional Web sites.

Dreamweaver is meant to be used for all of these purposes. An application with separate teams for design, user interface, rich content, and programming can all work in the same environment, and - where needed - cross the line into other territory without needing to learn new tools.

Studio users take note: there is a learning curve involved in moving over to Dreamweaver. It's a lot like CF Studio, but it is still quite a different application. Don't worry. The confusion will dissipate.

Installation
I ran Studio MX on a Windows XP Pro system. I used a machine with an 800MHz processor, but scads of RAM (512 MB, to be exact). Installation was nice and quick. The CD includes an "install everything" function, or you can install one product at a time. I chose the "everything" mode and it all went on without a hitch. I used the developer's version of ColdFusion MX that was included, which runs on its own Web server.

Pricing
Dreamweaver Studio MX is $799 for the full commercial box or download version. Upgrade prices vary based on which prior versions you have. Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash (version 2 or later), and Freehand (version 7 or later) users can upgrade to Studio MX for $599 if you have one of those applications.

Dreamweaver UltraDev, CF Studio, CF UltraDev Studio, and JRun Studio users can upgrade for $399. The $399 upgrade price also applies if you have any two of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash (version 2 or later) and Freehand (version 7 or later). An educational version is available for $199.

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Note to readers
Coming as I did from CF Studio 4.5 to Dreamweaver MX, I may point out features that were available in previous versions of CF Studio/Dreamweaver. My apologies if anything I mention is not a surprise to you. - Carey

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Vitals
Studio MX
Macromedia, Inc.
Address: 600 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: 415 252-2000
Fax: 415 626-0554
Web: www.macromedia.com
Test Environment: Windows XP Pro system, ColdFusion MX Developer's version