FrontPage / Dreamweaver / GoLive

In our Web design courses we are often asked which is the best authoring tool out of these three big names. I must say that there isn't one way to answer this because each tool offers its own benefits, and it depends on your working environment as to which one will be most suitable. All three get the job done, and though it is yet to be seen what happens with Dreamweaver and GoLive now that Adobe owns both, they are all good tools.

FrontPage is inexpensive compared to Dreamweaver or GoLive, but doesn't have the extensive range of features the latter two offer. FrontPage includes the ability to create fully functional Web-based forms, where the others require additional form handlers to process form data. FrontPage tends to create proprietary code, where the others are more compliant with Web standards. FrontPage has a shorter learning curve in some aspects since it looks very much like its siblings in the Office suite, but this can also be a drawback since Web publishing is not the same as desktop publishing or word processing and attempting to apply the same features is often problematic for those unfamiliar with Web design. These comparisons only touch on the differences between the products, however, you'll find it relatively easy to move from one to the other once you have learned any of the tools.

What we are seeing among our clients is that schools tend to be using FrontPage, but many who have been using it for a while are migrating to Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver tends to be the tool among our business clients, though some small companies are using FrontPage, and GoLive among our clients seems to be concentrated in the government offices and among some libraries. Which is best for you? As I mentioned, each has pros and cons that need to be weighed for your own use.