Microsoft Expression Web

When I decided to venture into Web design and development I ran Internet searches to check out some tools because, as you may already know, this is one field where a lot of changes take place at an alarming rate and tools and practices you learned and use might be outdated in the blink of an eye.

Of course, there is Dreamweaver CS4, the de facto standard in professional Web design and development—no surprises there. It has been taking that spot even during the time when Adobe’s own GoLive was still on the software map. It’s kind of an all-in-one tool where you can do lots of stuff in addition to (X)HTML and CSS code editing.

Then there are also the free and the open source tools like Komodo Edit, Aptana, KompoZer, N|vu, HTML-Kit, SeaMonkey, Selida, Amaya, CoffeeCup free, AlleyCode HTML Editor, AceHTML Freeware and others. They may not have a lot of Dreamweaver’s integrated features but if you’re willing to modify your workflow a bit to incorporate other external tools, you can have a complete Web development tool chain at the price of zero. These tools rock!

Somewhere between Dreamweaver and the free tools, lie Microsoft’s Expression Web. The first thing you have to know about this application is that while it replaced FrontPage, it is not FrontPage with a new name and is not targeted at the same audience FrontPage was. Another thing is, it has a strong focus on Web standards. Microsoft has a legitimate Dreamweaver challenger this time.

It may not currently have all the niceties of Dreamweaver but it also does not cost as much. Furthermore, Microsoft Expression Web might close this feature gap in the not so distant future.

That Microsoft is bent on closing this gap can be seen in their addition of PHP support in version 2 despite the fact that it is a direct competitor to their very own ASP technology. I’ve even read that Microsoft Expression Web supports Adobe’s Flash better than it does Silverlight—Microsoft’s own technology.

If Microsoft wants to, it seems like they can play well with others too. I just hope they’ll keep it up, and not limit their products by making it work only with their own.

Choice is always good.