I am just getting into light web development and am currently learning Frontpage 2000. It seems easy, but I always hear about Dreamweaver and actually see it listed as a plus skill on alot of job descriptions. Which one should I spend time learning, because I have both of them, so thats not the issue. Which is easier? Which is more useful in the job market, if either of them are? I am also learning Flash right now which I love so far. Lots of fun. Some one guide me so I dont waste my time learning an inferior program. I plan on learning how to hand code further down the line, but right now I just want to be able to make functional, attractive pages.
I work for a web site design company. All the designers use Dreamweaver coupled with Photoshop.
I don’t know any design houses that use FrontPage. It’s just too annoying. If you haven’t noticed look at your HTML code yet take a look. It’s full of useless stuff FrontPage puts in it.
First off, I use Frontpage 2000. Why? Because I have it. I’m a poor college student, who just happens to have had a copy of Frontpage for several years (it came pre-installed on the family computer). I really don’t care about how I get my stuff on the 'Net.
That said, I would love to get my slimy mits on Dreamweaver (or, hell, maybe I should stop being so lazy and just write all the HTML myself…). AndyJ is right, Frontpage does dump a lot of unnecessary crap in your files. As one of my ultra-web-savvy friends described it, my HTML’s were “inelegant”.
Here’s a nice way to describe it… Frontpage is like a rock, to someone who needs a hammer. It’ll do the job, but, well, it’ll look awkward.
I would have to agree with the above. I guess it’d just personall preference, but everyone I know chooses dreamweaver.
Also if you use the Front page server extensions you must use Frontpage to manage your site with or they break. I also prefer the Dreamweaver interface. I think the main reason though is the poor Microsoft HTML code
I use the Brief command-line editor for all of my HTML coding.
No, I am serious.
What? 
FP2K has much better web maintenance functions (I know of one person who uses Dreamweaver to create the pages, but FrontPage to manage them). If you’re managing a web (adding files, managing other users, creating directories, using Access databases, etc.) FP is better. If all you’re interested in is design, then you may prefer Dreamweaver.
I own a copy of Dreamweaver4… boy, what a beaut’. We use frontpage2K at work and it never fails to annoy me.
For the same price, I’d buy Dreamweaver. Otherwise, if you don’t know either, go with whatever is cheaper…
RChuck, I’ve never had a problem with file management on DW. They’ve got a whole window which shows file structures both locally and (if your server is remote) remotely (when you connect). I have two independent websites on my computer at home and I’ve set them up to be two different sites. I dunno, perhaps we just don’t use Frontpage right, but I don’t like it.
Ah, the database work, I guess I cna’t say much there, though. But hell, access will make its own web pages for you 
Many design houses use dreamweaver to speed up site production, but you will still be expected to know how to hand code, which, to be honest, is not difficult at all.
Get a decent notepad replacement like NoteTab that allows you to edit and to search and replace across multiple documents.
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michael
Dreamweaver is much better than FrontPage, but it’s not so good in some areas (its editor is very poor, and it doesn’t run on Linux).
I would have a hard time using FrontPage because of its End User Licence Agreement, which (according to Slashdot) states in part:
You’ve got to be kidding!
Notepad’s better’n both of them.
http://www.w3.org
Dreamweaver. I’ve used both. Photoshop is my choice for photo work, but I like Fireworks for easy buttons, etc.
Negative. Dreamweaver UltraDev is an advanced version of the software, specifically designed for use with dynamic database-driven sites. I’ve used UltraDev, it is amazing (although I wish it directly supported PHP). The general Dreamweaver package is quite good at web site management.
I should also note that the FP server extensions are notorious for security holes. But then, IIS is full of security holes.
BTW, Macromedia offers generous student discounts. If you can buy it through a university, do it.
Hell yeah they do. That’s how I got mine. I forget what the price was, but it was an unbelievable deal to get their eb design package, incl flash, fireworks, freehand, and dreamweaver. I want to say it was under $200, but I seriously cannot remember.
Had my mom buy it for me (there’s a twist, eh? She’s in school and I’m not! lol).
Well EditPad is better than Notepad. 
PC Magazine recently rated Front Page over Dreamweaver. I don’t remember their rationale. Maybe something about it looking like all other Microsoft products.
I used Dreamweaver to build my Web site. I know some rudimentary BASIC and Pascal programming but cannot now write a program that runs, so I can go into the HTML and do some hard coding when needed.
My site’s mostly text with some photos, and I found DW3 and Fireworks fairly easy to use. Their help stuff is far more impressive than I’ve seen with some of MS’s products (I did go ahead and buy a thick DW book, thought). I can even use FW to make minor changes to photos, especially resizing them, so I haven’t needed a photo program yet (although that’s changing now that I’m buying a digital camera).
What turned me off FP most was in trying to use a very crippled version that seemed more intent on keeping me from learning how to use it (its help section was noticably unhelpful. I even sprang for the $10 version from MS, but in the three weeks it took to get to me, I was seduced by DW and bought it.
Anthracite wrote
Wow. I didn’t know they were still around. I used them for years writing c code but that’s almost a decade ago.
The only command I recall: Numeric * (undo)