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Update, Feb 2005: Since I wrote above article a year ago I have not changed my mind on basic comparison between Frontpage and Composer: they are both viable web page composing programs “for amateur” with major difference that Composer is completely free while Frontpage must be purchased….there are no “legal” free copies of Frontpage. Composer versions 7+ are every bit as easy to use and as advanced in features as Frontpage 2003 or XP.
However, if you are a “professional” web designer or you are seriously designing a Web Site for Professional or Business purposes you cannot use anything less than Frontpage, In Design (from Adobe) or Dreamweaver from Maccromedia. Composer simply creates too many problems in basic html language to do anything more than make a nice “personal” web site with. Some of changes created by Composer, which make it unsatisfactory for commercial web site development, are initial tagging as “composer created” prior to Head and “meta tags” portion; and in fact changes to meta tags. Both of these features make Composer unacceptable for all commercial applications; i.e., web sites designed to be listed in search engines.
Because of above, all of web sites listed earlier in this article have been re-designed with Frontpage and I am embarking on a program as I write to compare both Dreamweaver MX and In Design and then switch from Frontpage to whichever of those programs proves to be best for my needs. Things change with time so stay tuned to this article for updates on that story.
I’ll write a completely new article – leaving this one intact – once I complete my test drives of In Design and Dreamweaver. And I need to make that move because as much better as Frontpage is for “professional” web site development over Composer, so Dreamweaver and In Design over Frontpage! Frontpage is, after all, a Microsoft creation with all proprietary MS B.S. that that involves. Try viewing a Composer-designed web site in IE. Likewise, try viewing a Frontpage-designed web site in Netscape, Opera or Firefox? Same story – proprietary stuff from MS actually contaminates Frontpage designs just as much as Composer messes up designs when viewed in IE! It all goes back to Bill Gates “version” of both HTML and Java script languages versus “standard” versions.
Loring Windblad has operated his own HBBs for nearly 40 years, is a published author and freelance writer. Loring has written grants, business plans and resumes that got the job done right. His latest HBB endeavor is http://www.organicgreens.us