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GoLive vs Dreamweaver ...

Fender2112

Fender2112

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 11, 2002
1,143
417
Charlotte, NC
I'm thinking about getting a web site builder. I currently have GoLive 4, but it's OS 9. I don't use it very much and would like to bring my software up to date. I've heard that Dreamweaver is a nice program.

Do any of you folks have any advise on either of these or another web site builders?

Thanks
 
I have used Dreamweaver for the last year. Before that I used GoLive but didn't care for it--I can't really remember why anymore.

They both have free trials, so give them both a try and see which one you like.
 
i've used dreamweaver mx 2004. but not golive. definitely as stated above, check out the trials. dreamweaver is solid. huge speed boost after that last update too. but adobe is a respectable company. go for the trials and check it out. try epinions.com though it's not always the best source for tech reviews. your individual workflow is the difference. they each work in different ways. so, yet again, download the trial and do yourself a favor.

reality
 
i prefer dreamweaver because, in my experience, it does a slightly better job of staying out of your way when you don't want it to monkey with your code. i'm much more familiar with it than golive, so i can't fairly compare their advanced features, since i didn't use golive enough to really get into them. but both put a lot of power at your disposal.
 
I would definetly reccommend Dreamweaver. It integrates beautifully with the rest of the Macromedia applications, e.g. Flash, Fireworks.

Its also the industry standard.

-- Andrew.
 
I'd rather use GoLive than Dreamweaver. It all depends on how much you like to work at a tool. Dreamweaver is far from intuitive. I have to search all over the place for things in all of the Macromedia applications. It's as though they haven't done any usability testing.

The good thing about Dreamweaver is that more people use it. You're bound to find a book or a tutorial that does something close to what you want. I wouldn't suggest going with the Macromedia books though--they're awful.

GoLive has what Adobe calls Smart Objects that link to Illustrator and Photoshop and do the necessary conversions automatically. I can't comment on GoLive CS but I imagine it's better than the version 4, 5, or 6 that I've used.

With Dreamweaver MX 2004, Macromedia has improved integration with other Macromedia applications, but it's not nearly as good as what Adobe has done. You still have to work harder to get things done.
 
sonofslim said:
i prefer dreamweaver because, in my experience, it does a slightly better job of staying out of your way when you don't want it to monkey with your code. i'm much more familiar with it than golive, so i can't fairly compare their advanced features, since i didn't use golive enough to really get into them. but both put a lot of power at your disposal.
Click to expand...

My experience has been just about the opposite. Of course, I'm using GoLive 6 at home vs. Dreamweaver 3 at work, so that may have something to do with it too... ;) Personally, I prefer GoLive. Haven't tried GoLive CS or Dreamweaver MX tho.
 
nesbitt_a said:
I would definetly reccommend Dreamweaver. It integrates beautifully with the rest of the Macromedia applications, e.g. Flash, Fireworks.

Its also the industry standard.

-- Andrew.
Click to expand...

It is the Macromedia standard. Industry standard is HTML mate.

GoLive works perfectly well with Flash and offers tight integration with Photoshop and Illustrator. It's just which feels better to you.

Me, I find that BBEdit is doubleplusgood.

--

WAR IS PEACE
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
 
jennyjennydz said:
It is the Macromedia standard. Industry standard is HTML mate.

GoLive works perfectly well with Flash and offers tight integration with Photoshop and Illustrator. It's just which feels better to you.

Me, I find that BBEdit is doubleplusgood.

--

WAR IS PEACE
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
Click to expand...

The majority of design houses use Dreamweaver - dosen't make it the best application though.
 
I've used GoLive and Dreamweaver from newbie beginner to, hopefully, quite a good webdesigner. For years Dreamweaver has outshone GoLive but now CS is out, really GoLive is competing. Personally for a complete beginner I would say Dreamweaver 2004 - I don't know why. Both are available as downloads... go ahead and try
 
Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. I downloaded the trial versions and tinkered with both a bit. I found GoLive to be a bit more intuitive. I like the way it integrates with Photoshop and Image Ready.

I may update to the Creative Suite if I can make myself come off the hip with the cash. It's a big chunck to bite off all at once. :)
 
do you have a pc? i love my mac, but i do my dreamweaver coding on the pc. it's a MUCH MUCH better environment. it's faster and the tabbed layout allows you to have say, a dozen pages open in a nice neat format.
 
I've been using Dreamweaver since version 1 and am pretty pleased with it, although the Mac version is still slow to load. In it's defense MX 2004 has superior CSS support compared to regular MX. But I still prefer to use pico when I'm feeling productive...
 
Golive

I went through the same process years ago and found Golive easier to use and more productive than Dreamweaver. I have not used Dreamweaver since, so I cannot comment on recent improvements. However I know several designers who have always sworn by Dreamweaver, then they see Golive's way of doing something and they want to swtich!
 
GoLive hands down, but beware of CS!

GoLive is one of my favorite programs of all time - originally only for the Mac, there is still something very "Macish" about it, especially compared to Dreamweaver.

I also have always found the interface and file organization much more intuitive than Dreamweaver.

The bad news (but for me - a professional Web designer - still not enough reason to switch to DW) is that GoLive CS is still very buggy - even in version 7.02, and I don't like many of the "improvements" in the new version anyway. The latest incarnation of Dreamweaver does also boast a more impressive feature set than GoLive CS.

I primarily use GoLive 6 (after a brief and unhappy stint with CS) and am quite happy. Let's just pray that the next release is much better than the current one.
 
Adobe -- for the long term committment

I design for print, web, and video. (web work with BBedit)

I tested both tools a few years ago - heavily - and went with GoLive. At the time, it imported adobe graphic files more reliably than DreamWeaver. I also thought it had better on-line help and was more inuitive. It just had a better feel than Dreamweavere. Also, Adobe had just announced that they would support flash. That made it a done deal.

But more important ..

I have a fundamental mistrust of MacroMedia. I had to give it a chance since I was a dedicated FreeHand user for years. They were marketing to a "young crowd" with flash and shock and the like...

I wanted a good web layout tool and Adobe was a more reliable company. And I was willing put up with bugs and development since the web is an ever changing thing and you have to tolerate this with any tool. And, GoLive is working fine for what I want it to do..

By the way, I converted to Illustrator from FreeHand, and am now almost totally Adobe ..

C-
 
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