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New Macromedia suite includes upgrades of Flash and Dreamweaver, but no Freehand

Macromedia has updated its flagship Studio web design, development and maintenance suite and now offers new versions of industry standard apps Dreamweaver and Flash, adds new tools with Contribute and FlashPaper, but sheds Freehand.

Macromedia Studio 8 (reviewed here), is the first update of the Studio package since 2003, contains brand new versions of Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Fireworks, Contribute and FlashPaper and also includes a number of enhancements designed to improve integration across the package.

But while Macromedia has added two applications to Studio in the shape of Contribute and FlashPaper, it has dropped its vector graphics package Freehand.

Although some have seen this as a likely indication that the program will be phased out in favour of Illustrator once Adobe’s acquisition of Macromedia is finalised, the San Francisco-based company denied this was the case, insisting Freehand would continue to be sold as a standalone package.

Macromedia claims Studio 8 will “change the look and feel of the web” through a host of enhancements and additions to key applications.

Dreamweaver 8 – perhaps the suite’s core application – includes expanded CSS layout visualisation tools for easier design, drag and drop integration of XML data feeds, and improved code support for XML and XSLT. Flash Professional 8, meanwhile, sports improved graphics performance, new graphics effects, new animation controls and new Flash video features.

The ubiquitous Flash Player also gets an update with a higher quality video codec, an advanced text-rendering engine and improved security and privacy. Other enhancements include the ability to create CSS-style popup menus in Fireworks 8 and the addition of Contribute 3 and FlashPaper 2.

“Studio 8 is a huge leap forward,” said Stephen Elop, Macromedia’s CEO. “There are tremendous improvements to features and performance allowing designers and developers to build and deliver more expressive and compelling experiences for the web. This release will fundamentally change the way people think about the creation and delivery of digital content.”

INFO Studio 8 will cost £699, or £299 for an upgrade.
Visit www.macromedia.com/uk.

Computer Arts has recently reviewed Studio 8, click here to read the review.