Adobe Creative Suite 5

Adobe GoLive is a product of the past, an April 2008 past to be more specific, the date when sales for the product were officially hindered. All of Adobe’s attention now shines on Adobe Creative Suite 5 (CS5) and Dreamweaver products (at the time GoLive officially stopped being supported, Dreamweaver CS3 was available).

Thanks to Adobe’s shift in focus, they have also expected GoLive users to subsequently shift products. But what does the Dreamweaver line mean for them? What preferred functions and features will be stripped after switching to a different product? The answer is none.

Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 (part of the Creative Suite environment) supports all previous series features and expands greatly upon them. Adobe even claims Dreamweaver is the “leading tool to design, develop, and maintain websites and web applications.”

What else does Abobe have to say about Dreamweaver CS5? Just this: “Dreamweaver CS5 offers a visual layout interface, a streamlined coding environment, and intelligent integration with related Adobe applications.”

Adobe also fully supports the switch by offering free tools and support which will aid any user in the process of transferring previous work and material to the new environment.

Adobe Creative Suite 5

The most important reason to switch web development environments is not the added support however, but the inclusion of new features and benefits. Those benefits include fully integrated CMS support (WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal), full visual CSS inspection and display, complete integration with Adobe BrowserLab (diagnostic tool), the ability to easily enable and disable CSS functionality, enhanced Subversion (collaboration) support, enhanced CSS starter pages and templates, custom PHP code support, and of course BusinessCatalyst integration (small business templates and support).

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Features

– Ultimate software tool kit for striking web, print, interactive, as well as mobile design
– Rich code hinting and completion for HTML5 and CSS3 in Dreamweaver CS5.5
– Multi-screen preview in Dreamweaver; Folio Producer tools in Adobe InDesign
– Authoring for the latest devices and platforms with Flash Professional
– Enhanced eBook authoring in InDesign; more efficient delivery of accessible documents

Testimonial:

“I love all the programs in Adobe CS5. I’m still learning but there is a lot of resources on the Web that are helping me tackling the programs. The help documents are a great resource that I almost overlooked. I really like the combination of programs in this package.” A. Morin

Adobe has also created a unique application marketplace known as the “Dreamweaver Exchange”, in which users can purchase and download important development applications for use with the Dreamweaver programs. The options are infinite, as the exchange opens up an endless supply of additional possibilities and tools which can be utilized for development. Users will find all sorts of goodies in the “Exchange” such as interface and theme changes, additional plugins and navigation bar support, media and feature widgets, and various loader programs and emulation options.

So if you’re still using the good ol’ Adobe GoLive software it would certainly be more beneficial to switch environments. You’ll be provided not only with a more fresh and modern working environment, but a plethora of new options and possibilities as well thanks to the many benefits of the Adobe Creative Suite.

The entire Adobe Creative Suite 5 (CS5) is available for $1,899 and up with a brand new license, and $599 with an upgraded license (earlier CS versions).

The Adobe Creative Suite includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash Catalyst, Flash Professional, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Acrobat 9 Pro software.

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Windows Versions

Adobe CS5 Design Standard

Adobe CS5 Design Premium

Adobe CS5 Design Standard Student & Teacher Edition
(for students and teachers only)

Adobe CS5 Design Premium Student & Teacher Edition
(for students and teachers only)

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Mac Versions

Adobe CS5 Design Standard

Adobe CS5 Design Premium

Adobe CS5 Design Standard Student & Teacher Edition
(for students and teachers only)

Adobe CS5 Design Premium Student & Teacher Edition
(for students and teachers only)

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Standard includes the core tools for professional design: updates to InDesign, for page design and document layout; Illustrator, for vector drawing, such as maps, logo design and, of course, illustration; the basic version of Photoshop; and Acrobat Pro.

Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium has all the above applications, but with the Extended version of Photoshop. It also contains additional programs for designing websites, animations and interactive content. Dreamweaver for web design and development program, Flash Pro for multimedia animation, video and application development program, Flash Catalyst for repurposing artwork created in other Adobe tools into interactive projects as well as Fireworks for optimised graphical content for websites, smartphones and other screen-based interactive content design.

We have created a forum thread on the Adobe Creative Suite 5 product line, come join the discussion! Do you have any questions about the switch from GoLive to Adobe Creative Suite? Are you planning on staying with GoLive, and why? Do you use an alternate web development environment besides Adobe Creative Suite? Tell us all your thoughts and opinions in the thread here.