dreamweaver or web expressions studio which do you use and why

having some backround in dreamweaver i am being told a lot about web expressions studio. i have 0 experience with it and im wondering if anyone here uses it over dreamweaver and if so why they do?

im looking for the better all around tool. i own dreamweaver but was considering buying wes and im wondering if its worth the money.

also i am looking at the full visual studio package. i have backround with c+ and c++ but not its web developer portion of the package. would that be worth it over buying web expressions. what does one offer over the other.

not sure if anyone here if into this type of thing but i am in the process of building 3 web sites and im thinking of trying out the newer products.

does web expressions offer me anything over dreamweaver except maybe better integration with asp.net?

anyone have any insite on this topic?

thank you

 

I use it. I learned on both dream weaver and expression web. For me, I prefer the interface. I find it easier to adjust and set properties for elements in the web page in expression over dream weaver for the mere fact it looks more organized.

But in application, they do the same thing. If you feel more comfortable in dream weaver, then by all means, continue with it.

 

Sorry, I haven't used web expessions studio, but I have used Dreamweaver... it's a pretty good program, especially the new CS4. I just got it when it came out.

Looks like you can give Expression Studio 2 a trial run. I didn't know that it was a Microsoft product. Microsoft's trying to take on Adobe eh? I really don't see Silverlight making any stand against Flash though. Only one website has asked me to install Silverlight, and it was a Microsoft website. I did not install it.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...0C-72BA-489B-ADBB-EE6F3C79066D&displaylang=en

 

okay here is another question. my wife has (she is standing here lol) has 0 knowledge and is starting from scratch. which would you tell her to use and why. i know dreamweaver okay (far from perfect) and dont think learning web experessions would be to big of a deal. but she has 0 experience. and is not one that likes me to "teach" her. she is more of a self taught type.

what would be better for her to learn in?


also what is the real need of visual studio over web expressions studio?

thanks again

 

I would assume that there is more support for Dreamweaver, whether older versions or the newest. You could spend $20 a month at www.lynda.com and she could learn Dreamweaver pretty well with video lessons. That's how I learned a lot of my Adobe programs.

Edit: Both are available for trial, you should get both and just see what either of you like. Actually you already own Dreamweaver... get the trial of expressions and see which both of you like.

 

yeah i didnt want to install all the garbage of web expressions though if we were not using it.. ill have to make a backup image to restore im sure it loads up a ton of crap to get rid of if we dont use it. im picky about those things

 

Expression Web 2 is better for her if she's starting from scratch. It has an easier learning curve. EW2 is good for beginner to advanced, Dreamweaver is more for intermediate to advanced.

The product that's compared directly to Dreamweaver is EW2, not the entire studio suite. Other software within the suite are optional.

 

Microsoft software will be easiest for her to learn from scratch.
How i worked was i started with strait up HTML, then Microsoft FrontPage, then Dreamweaver, and that is what i use now... (thank god for my cousin owning them all, and giving me his old versions when he upgraded)

 

Try EW2, it's a lot better and more powerful than FP, no need to go to Dreamweaver.

 

what about ew2 compared to the visual web developer?

 

VWD is more for developers/programmers, it comes with a different set of tools, such as compilers, debugger, class libraries, etc. EW2 has more advanced CSS, visual layout, and imaging tools. Both software can create commercial websites, but I believe EW2 will be better for her.

 

I use Dreamweaver. For me, it's just personal preference. I'm sure I could live with either.

 

have to say using expressions and its pretty nice. ill let you know how it goes.

 

I am going to try EW2, I was not aware it was out. Dreamweaver writes stupid duplicitous code with double tags for no good reason. NOt that I am any great coder myself, but really, if I choose a word to be BOLD and BLUE, the next time I chose that same combo, Dreamweaver should at least offer me the option of saying, "Hey idiot, you already got that in style 2, how about using that instead of creating an entire new style??????" I read the EW1 did just that and was most impressed.

 

For anyone for beginners or the the experts The Dreamweaver is ultimate from my perception.
and I first heard ab the web expressions studio here for the first time.
But to be very frank I have used Dreamweaver a lot and I dont think that it is at all replaceable ...it's so organized and so easy and high range of supprtive plugins and it's an Adobe product.

So now u can try both and dcide.

Thank you

 

I sometimes develop websites and I teach web development, including some back end programming like PHP.

I don't like DW, particularly for teaching but also for personal use. And it's very expensive.

If you are comfortable working in html and css code, check out www.blumentals.net for it's various strength web editors. Very inexpensive and works well with some nice tools. It's now my favorite web editor.

Note: I'm a code geek, if you want to work mostly visually then code editors are not for you. But if you are serious you need to now at least html (actually xhtml) and css. No way around it IMO.