Review: Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX 2004

We admit it: this review is not for everyone. This one is for our brothers and sisters in arms—the web-headed geeks. Unlike Microsoft’s user-friendly (and, in our view, over-simplified) FrontPage, Dreamweaver MX 2004 is professional website creation software at its finest. It is not for the faint of heart or the casual user.

The Features We Like

We created our old site, the original Tesla-PC.com using Dreamweaver 4, which we also loved. But, version 4 had its limitation and we quickly outgrew it.

Among the feature we like (and use all the time):

  • Greater integration for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
  • Translates standard bulky HTML code into slim and elegant CSS
  • Expanded table mode (man, do we love this)
  • Nested templates
  • Improved workspace layout
  • News from Macromedia appears on program desktop

Cascading Style Sheets & Nested Templates

These feature make managing a website even easier than before. Need to make changes to the style of the headlines and/or body text site-wide?

The CSS and nested templates make this a snap; change your style sheet or your primary (or secondary or tertiary) template and the change is reflected throughout the site instantly.

Ever try grabbing just one of a series of nested table cells, clicking and clicking away, futilely? Sure, you could use the status bar below to select the right cell, but you’d be guessing. Use the expanded table mode (see graphic, top) and you can see just how your tables are interacting with each other.

One Caveat

The only disappointment we had was with the integrated Fireworks web graphic optimization applet, which, in our view, was not as successful as we’d’ve liked. We played with it for a week or so, but we felt that, while it did reduce the size (in KBs) of our graphics, it also made them look quite muddy.

Overall, if you’re a web-geek and you’re using an earlier version of Dreamweaver and you love it like we loved ours, then for God’s sake, upgrade to Dreamweaver MX 2004! Do it now—you can thank us later.

Updated: November 18, 2005