We decided to analyze and compare popular web development software and rank them based on three areas: features, price, and popularity. In this guide to web design software, we have looked at seven programs: Adobe Go Live CS2, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Apple iLife/iWeb 06′, CoffeeCup HTML Editor, Macromedia Dreamweaver 8, Macromedia Homesite 5.5 and Microsoft Frontpage 2003. Here are the results:
#1 Apple iLife/iWeb 06′ (MAC)
iWeb can create websites and blogs — complete with podcasts, photos, and movies — and get them online, fast. Just drag, drop, and design using your choice of web templates, then publish live to your .Mac account.
Features:
Apple-designed templates
Easy, flexible website creation
iLife media browser
Blogging, Podcasting
one click .mac publishing
#2 CoffeeCup HTML Editor 2006
The CoffeeCup HTML Editor 2006 is 2 Editors in 1! HTML really hasn’t changed that much over the years.
Shouldn’t you be able to do it faster and easier by now? Comes with The Code Editor, a mean, clean, coding machine, and The Visual Editor, What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG).
Features:
Free support & free upgrades for life
Over 25,000 graphics & photos included
100 DHTML & JavaScripts Included
Fast & simple image and link inserting
Wizards for frames, tables, forms, fonts & more
Easy drag & drop WYSIWYG visual editor
Includes Coffee Cup Image Mapper
#3 Macromedia Dreamweaver 8
Dreamweaver 8 is the industry-leading web development tool, enabling users to efficiently design, develop and maintain standards-based websites and applications. Web developers go from start to finish, creating and maintaining basic websites to advanced applications that support best practices and the latest technologies.
Features:
Visual authoring with XML data
New, unified CSS panel
CSS layout visualization
Style rendering toolbar
CSS rendering improvements
Accessibility: Support for WCAG/W3C priority 2 checkpoints
Background file transfer
Coding toolbar & code collapse
Improved site synchronize and check in / check out
Support for ColdFusion MX 7, PHP 5 and Flash Video
#4 Microsoft Frontpage 2003
Frontpage 2003 provides the features, flexibility, and functionality to help you build better Web sites. It includes the professional design, authoring, data, and publishing tools needed to create dynamic and sophisticated Web sites.
Features:
Enhanced design tools to produce better web sites
Design tools to generate better code
Built-in scripting tools for interactive results
Professional coding tools
Complete WYSIWYG (XSLT) editor
#5 Adobe Photoshop CS2
Adobe Photoshop CS2 software, the professional image-editing standard and leader of the Photoshop digital imaging line, delivers more of what you crave. Groundbreaking creative tools help you achieve extraordinary results. Unprecedented adaptability lets you custom-fit Photoshop to the way you work. And with more efficient editing, processing, and file handling, there’s no slowing you down.
Features:
Timesaving file handling with Adobe Bridge
Multiple layer control
Event-based scripts
Create roll-overs with Image Ready
#6 Adobe Go Live CS2
Adobe GoLive CS2 software lets you unlock the power of CSS with intuitive visual tools such as prebuilt CSS objects that you can drag and drop to build sophisticated sites. Jump-start your designs by easily converting Adobe InDesign® layouts into Web pages. Or, design Web and mobile content in an advanced, standards-based coding environment.
Features:
Simple visual tools to build and edit CSS-based pages
Total site management
Complete development environment for W3C standards
Quick Start developer mode
Automated favicon creation
Enhanced InDesign Package for GoLive
#7 Macromedia HomeSite 5.5
HomeSite 5.5 provides a lean, code-only editor for web development. Advanced coding features enable you to instantly create and modify HTML, CFML, JSP, and XHTML tags, while enhanced productivity tools allow you to validate, reuse, navigate, and format code more easily. Configure Macromedia HomeSite to fit your needs by extending its functionality and customizing the interface.
Features:
Tag Editor
XHTML 1.0 Support
Enhanced Code Snippets
Productivity Wizards
Integrated CSS Editor
Multi-Language Validator
Scriptable Deployment