Dreamweaver CS4

Best for coding and design professionals, Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 is perhaps the sharpest, swiftest tool for developing and editing dynamic web sites.

Some veteran users of Adobe's Creative Suite may find that version 4 offers few extraordinary updates to justify the high cost. However, designers and editors who lean on Dreamweaver for complex dynamic web sites will find plenty of tweaks for editing code more easily within its WSIWYG interface. Those who code by hand may scoff at using Dreamweaver to build sites from the bottom up. This updated application is highly appealing for providing shortcuts to difficult, dynamic coding elements. And in our tests so far, it feels faster and seems to crash less frequently than its predecessors. Rather than aiming to impress users with flashy features, Adobe's Dreamweaver improvements appear to have focused on making the less glamorous parts of the application less painful to use.

Setup interface
To run Dreamweaver CS4 on a Windows computer, you'll need XP SP2 or Vista with a 1GHz or greater processor and 1GB or more of disk space available. Mac users must have a PowerPC G5 or Intel-based machine running at least OS X version 10.4.11, with at least 512MB of RAM and 1.8GB free disk space. You'll also need a DVD drive and a 1,280-by-800 display with a 16-bit video card. Installation of the entire

The look and feel of Dreamweaver CS4, revamped from the former Macromedia property, now matches those of other Creative Suite applications. You can jump among customisable workspaces from a pull-down menu, and we find the collapsible panels more elegant to place and resize. Preset views include 'Coder Plus' and 'Dual Screen'. That should all help to make working with this application simpler on various screen resolutions and monitor setups.

Users will find expanded options for viewing code and design previews separately or simultaneously. Dreamweaver's new Code Navigator shows the CSS rules underlying layout elements. Just hover over a page footer, for instance, and double-click on the text, and the navigator can take you to the code for formatting text styles. A new CSS mode in the Properties panel provides quick access to code. The Property inspector's improvements should also help to avoid cluttered CSS.

Service and support
Getting Started help for installation issues and other speed bumps lasts for 90 days. Adobe's comprehensive, self-serve tech support options include embedded and online look-ups, tutorials and videos. The new Adobe Support Portal requires an Adobe log-in and password. Newcomers would be wise to get up to speed with the interactive tutorials and maybe even third-party books and web sites. Web-based forums with other users, as well as the Community Support in beta testing, may be the best bargain for getting hands-on advice.

According to the Adobe website, currently support is not available in the AP regions. The website states "support plans are not yet available for this region and Adobe is pleased to offer complementary support for users of registered products". For overseas users, don't bother trying to seek extra help without a registered serial number; the days of 'borrowing' copies of heavy-duty Adobe software from friends are long gone. Help with a live Adobe representative continues to be expensive Each year we find the pricing options harder to find on Adobe's web pages. The Bronze level of support, for five pre-purchased incidents, is $175 (~AU$253). Unlimited Silver support costs $1,200 (~AU$1740), three times the cost of Dreamweaver itself.

Conclusion
The AU$621.00 price of Dreamweaver hasn't changed since CS3. Users of earlier versions can pay the AU$299 upgrade fee. That's steep, even for the upgrade, if you're already happy with an earlier edition of Dreamweaver. Unless you've been tearing your hair out over hard-to-find or tricky-to-fix dynamic coding in CS3, this upgrade isn't necessary. However, more so than the introduction of CS3, this Dreamweaver update offers more progress with practical tools as well as cohesion within the Creative Suite. Professionals who might save time and money from the coding conveniences and added integration with Photoshop and other CS4 applications will find Dreamweaver CS4 worth the upgrade.