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 - This is idiot proofHey, I test ran all the products, free and otherwise by downloading the full trial versions. Keep in mind, I have been limping along using Microsoft Publisher 2000 to create and maintain my website, seriously, this should tell you what a complete novice I am!! After attempting to use Adobe's Dreamweaver, and then using this product, I have to admit, this product is pretty much idiot proof. I still know nothing about html, or any other thing on this product as of yet (I have not even watched the tutorial video that came with it yet), and I have created a new website design from scratch for my site. This is definately worth the money. I have spent 7 years using Publisher 2000, so I figure for the money I spent on this, if I get that kind of longevity out of this product, it is money well spent. Rating:  - What a step down from Frontpage!I'm very disappointed in the new Expression Web from Microsoft. I've been using it for several months now, and thought I needed a book because I was having trouble finding things (like the list of templates Front Page provided). It turns out that they were never there in the first place! This program has less than Front Page (its predecessor) and is much more complex to use. I might as well get with the professional web designers and switch to Dream Weaver. Boooooooo Microsoft! Rating:  - Too Professional!I have used Microsoft Frontpage for a number of years. Basically to produce simple websites for local Schools or Societies that felt they needed a web presence. The major convienience of FrontPage was its simplicity and usefull design templates, essentially using FrontPage was like using a wordprocessor. When this came out as an upgrade to FrontPage I bought it. The problem is this is too professional, essentially it functions like Dreamweaver. If you want to make professional websites for a living fine. However, if all you want to do is produce a simple information providing website, without all the Javascript bits and bobs, then stick with FrontPage. Rating:  - I Know A LittleI build my own computers, been acquainted with C+ language, use Photoshop on a regular basis and have become familiar with Microsoft operating systems and Microsoft Office applications beginning with Windows 3.1. I began with absolutely zero website building experience, however; I do think the "intuitive" familiarity with the above helped me to navigate through the learning curve. Expression Web is definitely a professional web development tool. I cannot compare it to Dreamweaver, because as mentioned above, this is my first time building a website. This is not a cut and paste or "click a template" program. If you know what you're doing in HTML and/or CSS you can build from scratch. From what I've read on blogs, Expression Web does a better job at catching code errors than Dreamweaver. When a code error is detected, EW highlights the code error, explains what the problem is and offers solutions that work, even for a newbie like me (Now isn't that a shocking surprise for a Microsoft product?). If you don't want to work from scratch, you have options of working with supplied templates, importing a website previously created or importing and modeling a website you've found attractive on the internet. *Note: If you import any other website whether it be you own or another you wish to model, you'll definitely have code conflicts you have to figure out and resolve. This would be true regardless of the web editor used as it's a matter of content not the tools used. If you're a newbie and interested, this is how I achieved success: I bought three books and one manual on Expression Web (I know it sounds obsessive but you'd be amazed what one book covers and another leaves out. The ability to cross reference is a must). The books and manual I used covered EW from a complete beginner level to levels intermediate and advanced. The books I worked from were: Expression Web for Dummies (beginner), Expression Web Visual Quickstart Guide (beginner), Foundations of Expression Web (beginner to intermediate) and Using Microsoft Expression Web (QUE manual for intermediate to advanced). Two to four hours of study a day and I went from complete novice to creating a no "bells and whistles", highly effective website in about two weeks. I am an artist. I paint oil paintings of landscapes as my vocation. You can see the website I created using Expression Web at the website listed at the top of my review. As mentioned by other reviewers, Expression Web is not without it's flaws. I think it was accurately described when compared to a beta version of a product. These are some of the problems I found: 1) Sometimes resetting the task panes to default did not work. When EW relaunches it sometimes exhibits amnesia and juggles them around into an unpredictable order. Out of the blue it will remember it's defaults and put them where they belong. 2) Often times the meta data files will forget the link attachments to Master Web Templates and CSS Style sheets and you have to manually, page-by-page reset the link attachments. It was laborious enough doing the resets for my forty page website. I'd wait for the 2nd version if I had to create a larger site. 3) In "Site Reports" again the link attachments for Master Web Templates and CSS Style sheets are often not shown. 4) EW does a poor job of FTP transfer of your website to a host server. That's easy enough to resolve using other free third party FTP clients or utilities already built into Windows XP. The bottom line is, if you're a professional and curious I'd stick with what you're currently using until the 2nd edition comes out. If you're a newbie, the interface is very "intuitive friendly" and the components that need to work work well. As to the bugs... Hey I paid $240 for the Expression Web and Adobe Dreamweaver is $400. The "bugs" I experienced were insignificant and although I'm a beginner I do think that future editions will leave Dreamweaver in the dust. I can later buy an $89 upgrade with the bugs fixed and I'm already familiar with a fine web editor. Angel Rating: - Wait for a 2nd editionExpression Web (and the whole expression studio) shows promise in one day being the best web design toolset available. But this 1st version is bound to frustrate two types--Front page fans and Vista users. In regards to the Front page fans--the days of being able to visually design a fully functional professional looking web page appear to be over. CoffeeCup and Sitespinner come as close as anything, but both are very limited. Control of the technologies employed across the web (html,css, flash, ajax, php, dot.net, sql, with plenty more to come) appears beyond the reach of any one product or company. I don't particularly like it. Monopolies have their upside. I would pay dearly for a decent visual web design/development program that was truly WYSIWYG, but having searched for well over two years, I've concluded none exist or are on the horizon. Web developers simply have to accept using multiple programs and text editing for certain tasks. That said, as a hybrid visual/text web production tool (along the lines of Dreamweaver) Expression web offers a lot. I found its drag-and-drop functionality, its preview capabilities, its css/php integration, its handling of imported objects, superior to that of Dreamweaver. As the expression studio evolves, I can easily see it rivaling/surpassing Adobe design suite in terms of workflow and inter-operability--particularly as it promises better compatibility with the rest of Office. BUT... the *&^!!! thing is still basically in its beta phase. (Pay $200 to be beta tester!?!). It is seriously buggy and it does not like Vista with Office installed. The help files don't work. It will constantly reinstall and reconfigure itself upon startup. It will crash a lot. I have seen ZERO improvement in these problems over the past 8 months and have tried numerous improvised fixes suggested on web forums without any luck. Microsoft appears to be gearing everything toward a 2nd release of the expression studio that integrates it with its new rival to flash (silverlight), rather than fixing the buggy as heck 1st version. This has been supremely annoying, and likely has soured many of the studio's potential adopters.
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