VERDICT: Dreamweaver takes its place at the heart of the Creative Suite Web Edition

Recently I looked at Adobe’s CS3 Design Standard suite with its strong focus on professional print. These days, however, most designers are as interested in outputting to the web as they are to paper...

VERDICT: Improved CSS handling, browser compatibility checking and especially the new Ajax support make this the most significant Dreamweaver release for years.

Dreamweaver has dominated the world of professional web design in the decade since Macromedia first introduced it. Recently however there has been growing concern that it has been trading on past glories...

VERDICT: Improved workflow integration, new symbol handling and multiple page support give Fireworks a new lease of life and new purpose.

When Adobe took over Macromedia there was considerable doubt over whether it would carry on developing the dedicated web graphics application Fireworks...

VERDICT: A new interface, drawing engine and even programming language – but surprisingly little new power.

Under Macromedia’s development, Flash came to dominate the Macromedia Studio authoring suite with each release pushing back the boundaries of end user web experience. So what power does this first version developed under new owners Adobe unleash?

VERDICT: Handy way to devolve content contribution to non-expert users, but there’s little here that’s new.

When it was first introduced Contribute was a radical and exciting development in web authoring as it enabled non-expert users to safely update a website’s content without risking breaking its design...

However, as the previous Contribute 4 was only launched at the beginning of the year, it would be unfair to expect similar fireworks this time around.

VERDICT: Adobe puts designing for mobile devices at the heart of its latest releases

One of the benefits for web designers of Adobe’s takeover of Macromedia is the wider graphical and design expertise that Adobe can draw upon...