18 June 2006
Review: Microsoft Expression Web Designer
One of my roles at The Web Standards Project is on The Dreamweaver Task Force, and as such I have a great interest in authoring tools and particularly in how they can assist those who prefer to work visually to develop standards compliant websites. The beta release of Microsoft Expression Web Designer gave me a chance to have a look at how this new contender in the marketplace stacked up – is it just FrontPage with a new skin, or actually a real competitor to Dreamweaver 8?
Installation
You can download a ‘Community Technology Preview’ copy of Microsoft Expression from http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/web_designer/wd_free_trial.aspx. You need to be running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 to install and there is no OS X version. Launching Expression displays the IDE with a default valid XHTML Transitional document – which is a good start.
As in Dreamweaver 8, Expression enables the developer to switch between different DOCTYPES when creating a new document. To create a new document in Expression select File > New > Page, in the dialog that opens click on ‘Page Editor Options’ and you will find that you can select from a range of DOCTYPES.
The IDE will be familiar to anyone who has used another visual development environment, however it also feels like a Microsoft Office Application – meaning that I approached the Formatting Toolbar with some trepidation unsure exactly what it would insert into my document. In fact, the Toolbar performs a similar function to the Properties Inspector in Dreamweaver when formatting an element, adding a class to the selected element and creating that class in an embedded stylesheet in the head of the document.
Code editing
As in Dreamweaver you can work in Code View, Design View or Split View. As a code editor Expression seems capable with the sort of features that one would expect – line numbering, code completion and auto insert, all of which are configurable in the Preferences. You can create your own “Code Snippets”: select a section of code, right-click and choose Create Code Snippet from the context menu and the give the item a name and description. Hitting Ctrl-Enter while in Code View brings up your list of Code Snippets to insert.
Design View
As I have already mentioned, formatting elements while in Design View results in the addition of classes to the elements and a class being created in an embedded stylesheet in the head of the document. While this is likely to lead to an attack of ‘classitis’, I’m not sure what the alternative would be and this is an almost identical method to that which Dreamweaver uses.
I was pleased to see that despite its similarities to Dreamweaver, my long-time Dreamweaver irritation hasn’t made an appearance in Expression. In Dreamweaver, if you select some text and click ‘Indent Text’ in the Properties Inspector you get a blockquote – want to ‘indent’ some more? You end up with multiple, nested blockquotes! Expression goes a more preferable route by giving the element a class and adding a 40 pixel left margin.
You can add (X)HTML elements to the document by selecting Insert > HTML or by double-clicking the elements in the Toolbox Panel. The strangest discovery here is that Expression has included a Layer button that, as in Dreamweaver, inserts an absolutely positioned div with inline styles. Why Microsoft has chosen to include this feature is a mystery. Dreamweaver Layers are really a throwback to older versions of the software, the cause of much confusion and in recent versions have been somewhat buried in the interface.
I was disappointed to see that inserting an image using either method does not also include an alt attribute or any prompting to add one. You need to add this essential attribute yourself using the Tag Properties Panel or directly in the code.
CSS Layout Rendering
Rendering of pages laid out with CSS is something which has improved with each version of Dreamweaver and I was interested to see how a relatively complex layout would display in Expression; from the tests that I did documents seemed to render as in Internet Explorer 6 but were editable in terms of adding content and in editing the attached stylesheets using the CSS Properties Panel. You do need to take care not to drag or resize positioned elements as Expression will then add inline styles.
Conclusion
Expression is certainly no FrontPage with a new skin, this product feels up to date and relevant to how professional designers and developers are working currently. Probably my main issue with the software is the strangely disconcerting feeling that I am developing a website in Microsoft Word. There being no OS X version and the software only being available to users of the most up to date versions of Windows will limit take-up of this product. That said, as a standards advocate and someone who has some understanding of the inherent difficulties in creating a CSS capable visual editor, I think this is a worthy competitor to Dreamweaver. I think competition in this market will be a good thing, especially when both competitors are using standards compliancy as a main selling point.
- Software Name: Microsoft Expression Web Designer
- Maker: Microsoft
- URL: http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/
- Price: Currently free to download Beta
- Rating out of 5: 3 – could well make a 4 by final release
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George
# June 19, 2006 - 5:38 pm
Thank you for this review. If you are correct that it uses the IE6 engine for rendering it is a real shame. IE7 has made great strides and if it renders CSS as IE6 I dare say that professional developers will steer well clear of it.
That said most professional developers probably hand code anyway.
Me
# June 19, 2006 - 6:19 pm
dude … you wrote complain when you meant compliant and you make it hard for me to inform you of the error.
Also … I hand code .. but I don’t do a page at a time in some goofy editor. I make use of CSS and templating systems.
I guess this would be good if you handcrafted each page.
I guess it might be good if you didn’t know what you were doing and never planned on getting more efficient.
PixelBud » Archive » Round Corners Rock, duh!
# June 19, 2006 - 9:07 pm
[...] Microsoft is making a new web editer called, Microsoft Expression to give Dreamweaver a run for its money. After reading this review, I was impressed. Its not just a facelift to Frontpage, its a recode to the core. Rachel Andrew of Vitamin has more. Back to you Rachel. lol. [...]
Alex Foley
# June 19, 2006 - 10:20 pm
I am thoroughly impressed with Microsoft Expression Web Designer, and that’s after using Dreamweaver for years. The only catch is that the editor is not capable of editing PHP files in Unix mode, or at least I haven’t found a way yet. MEWD is simply awesome for editing XHTML and CSS on the fly, because it validates as you type. Download the Community Technology Preview, run into bugs, submit them, and help to make this product even better than it is today.
Wayne Smith
# June 19, 2006 - 10:27 pm
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for posting this review!
In the section CSS Rendering Layout you mention “You do need to take care not to drag or resize positioned elements as Expression will then add inline styles.”
You’re quite correct, that does happen, but only if the program is set into Auto mode in Style Application. If you take that into Manual mode, you have full and absolute control over exactly how you want the program to create your CSS. You set this mode from Format>CSS Styles>Style Application
Best regards,
Wayne Smith
Senior Product Manager, Expression Web Designer
nonsmokingarea.com
# June 19, 2006 - 10:55 pm
dev: Microsoft Expression Web Designer…
I have never known any professional web-designer using microsoft frontpage, and I guess most were happy when Microsoft discontinued the product. developers may now testdrive frontpage’s successor, the Expression Web Designer (what kind of genius …
I.T. Week » Microsoft Expression
# June 20, 2006 - 9:01 am
[...] Microsoft Expression Web Designer is a web authoring product, which is not another skin for Frontpage, but a truly new product that will compete directly against Dreamweaver. There is a review of the product over at ThinkVitamin. [...]
Tony Bishop
# June 20, 2006 - 9:39 am
You say Expressions does not prompt for an Alt tag, yet it took me a while to find out how to turn off an img error, which throws a tool-tip advising of no alt attr.
In addition adding a ‘title’ attr to img is easy and can be prompted – great for adding the title tag for browsers that do not display an alt tag – like FireFox!
Rachel Andrew
# June 20, 2006 - 9:37 pm
Wayne Smith: that’s quite impressive – I checked that out with absolutely positioned and floated elements editing the width etc. and it works nicely. I like the way it opens the stylesheet and puts you in the correct place so you can see what effect the dragging around has had. It would be even cooler if it were the default option so that people who were unaware of the option (like me!) weren’t adding inline styles all over the place. Generally people using a CSS layout won’t be using inline styles.
Tony Bishop: the alt attribute and title are two different things. The alt attribute is required and doesn’t give any extra information about the image, rather it explains what the image is for someone who can’t see it. The title attribute is used to give extra information and browsers tend to display this as a tooltip. You don’t have to have a title, but you must include an alt attribute for every image so Expression is quite correct to be showing an error on that.
Marat
# June 21, 2006 - 7:59 am
It’s very common to Ace HTML Pro. Ace’s much better :)
» Review: Microsoft Expression Web Designer — cne _LOG Archiv
# June 21, 2006 - 8:25 am
[...] Vitamin Reviews: Microsoft Expression Web Designer [...]
Sean
# June 21, 2006 - 8:31 pm
Thanks for the review – I’m actually curious enough to download it and take it around the block for a spin now!
I’m not sure if I’d ever switch from Dreamweaver, but then again, it’s anyone’s guess how Adobe will start packaging their web and graphics suites now. It’d be nice to have alternatives, or at least a little healthy competition to keep these products improving!
Cheryl D Wise
# June 23, 2006 - 2:50 am
Rachel,
You mentioned in your reply to Wayne that most pros won’t be using inline styles. I agree with you and that’s why I went to Tools, Page Editor Options, and on the CSS tab changed the default for sizing, position and floating from CSS (inline styles) to CSS (classes) and changed the Page properties for the body tag to CSS (rules) which are the only two set to inline by default.
BTW, I agree with you on the lack of a Mac version and lament the missing PHP intellisense. I’m looking forward to seeing the changes in the next CTP release.
Jack
# June 25, 2006 - 8:59 pm
Thanks Rachel, It’s been along time since I looked at a msft product for web design. It sounds like msft has alot of interest in using web standards with ie7 and Expressions. I think this will make it easier for everyone (including different devices) to code according to standards.
MondoBlog » Blog » Fast Links Collection - Num 3
# June 27, 2006 - 3:53 pm
[...] Ecco un’ottima guida al nuovo software “Microsoft Expression Web Designer” [...]
» Expression Web Designer getestet — cne _LOG Archiv
# June 29, 2006 - 11:51 am
[...] Eine Einleitung in den Frontpage-Nachfolger gibt Rachel Andrew, Mitglied des Web Standards Projects, auf Vitamin. [...]
Steve
# July 11, 2006 - 9:21 am
Although we do use Microsoft Software I kind of like the idea that we are supporting Macromedia (Adobe now) rather than fueling the Microsoft engine.
I’ve not tried this software yet but appreciate the review, for now however we’ll be sticking with DW.
John
# July 13, 2006 - 1:13 pm
I think the day a microsoft app supports php code with intellisense will be a very very good day.
I’ve just got my licence for Studio 8 so can’t wait to use it but i’m really a mac developer at the core (but i’ve been coding in .net for years!).
I think the more web design apps out there the better, and it’s good to see microsoft taking a strong stride in web coding, and i really hope it doesn’t end as one thing leads to another and that other is standards-compliant sites and support for different applications.
css has come a long way and i just can’t wait to see what else we’ll get, just so long as the big guy’s dig in and support it.
just don’t crush the middle-men with the inventive and cool coding apps like xyle-scope, css-edit, and textmate (my big three).
all the best,
Linda
# July 25, 2006 - 9:08 pm
I work on a corporate web development team and am evaluating Expression Web Designer for use on .NET 2.0 sites. Most of the sites we work are web based applications; my role is interface design. The developers I’m working with are using Uisual Studio .NET 2.0 to develop functionality so my primary concern is the ability to work with those developers in the same environment to create the interface design. I see from the tutorials there is support for .NET 2.0 but it doesn’t say much about how well it integrates with sties created in VS. I’d be interested in comments from anyone who knows.
Thanks
We Are FAM-ily! - Links+I look forward to the day -- Centplus Tech
# August 10, 2006 - 7:57 am
[...] Review: Microsoft Expression Web DesignerThe beta release of Microsoft Expression Web Designer gave me a chance to have a look at how this new contender in the marketplace stacked up – is it just FrontPage with a new skin, or actually a real competitor to Dreamweaver 8? … [...]
Deependra Solanky
# August 12, 2006 - 6:32 am
We have installed the CTP of Expression Web Designer and we are very much impressed with it. Visual Studio is not a good tool for desigining web sites so this tool helps a lot. The most important thing is that it works on ASP.NET 2.0 which dreamweaver can’t. I hope the final version will also give some more.
Steven
# August 20, 2006 - 4:33 pm
I tried Expression I’m impressed, but and its a big but, until expression can support php its not going to compete with dreamweaver. Do we really want to have to switch between two different packages depending on what language your coding in. If it could support php it would be a winner.
Elisabeth Buntz
# August 21, 2006 - 7:00 pm
ICONS Management
Very grateful for your review and comments here! !Courage failed me in the download process however. I teach web standards and WYSIWYG software and I shall certainly keep an eye on what is happening on this website.
We Loves It » Blog Archive » MS gives more stuff away (for the time being at least)
# August 22, 2006 - 11:14 am
[...] There’s a good review of it on Vitamin if you want to try before you…err don’t buy. [...]
Q
# August 25, 2006 - 10:11 am
Good review – Thank you very much.
I wanted a quick synopsis and this was exactly right.
Jason Gurtz
# September 11, 2006 - 2:09 pm
Great review! Looking forward to the progress this app makes.
Valentino
# October 19, 2006 - 5:38 am
IT WILL COMPETE WITH DREAMWEAVER 1.0 BETA!! LOL
NOT PHP SUPPORT
NOT MAC INSTALLATION (ALMOST ALL DESIGNERS RUN MAC OS)
THE ONLY GOOD THING IS THAT WORKS WITH VISUAL BASIC PRODUCTS
STuGatZ
# November 22, 2006 - 4:30 pm
no, NOT all of us use Mac OS.
Microsoft Expressions? - Personal Development for Smart People Forums
# January 19, 2007 - 1:27 pm
[...] I tinkered with Expression for a little bit back when it was in beta. I remember thinking that it was pretty good. At least, it’s much better than FrontPage. Here is Vitamin’s review of the product, if you want to know more. [...]
by-expressions » Blog Archive » A Web Standards take on EWS
# February 3, 2007 - 6:19 am
[...] Vitamin Reviews » Microsoft Expression Web Designer [...]
Looking at Microsoft Expression Web at Where’s Lou
# April 3, 2007 - 5:38 pm
[...] Here’s another more thorough review of the product if you’re looking for more. [...]
Microsoft Silverlight no silver bullet
# October 7, 2007 - 10:50 pm
[...] A good idea, for sure, and all of this ernest industry has yielded some good reviews (PC Pro, PC Magazine, Vitamin.) [...]
Microsoft Expressions - DesignersTalk
# January 5, 2008 - 10:07 am
[...] I tried it while it was in beta, it is a major upgrade from Frontpage, but might not be something for the average Joe to pickup and run with. Although I believe with some time and any included documentation it should not take to long to get up and running with. I found some reviews and such for it. Might help out some. Microsoft Expression Web – TrustedReviews Vitamin Reviews » Microsoft Expression Web Designer ZDNet Microsoft Expression Web Review & Comparison HTML Editor Reviews » First Look: Microsoft Expression Web Designer __________________ php {ramblings} [...]
GuerrillaPop » Blog Archive » Microsoft Expression Web Designer vs. Adobe Dreamweaver
# January 17, 2008 - 5:03 pm
[...] Ya se han publicado varias reseñas del producto, viéndolo por su cuenta, comparándolo con Dreamweaver y hasta anunciando una nueva rivalidad entre Adobe y Microsoft. Todas han alabado la forma que Expression Web mueve al usuario hacia el uso de estándares como XHTML y CSS, algo que uno no esperarÃÂa de Microsoft, y que claramente denota que poco a poco Redmond va reconociendo que para competir seriamente en el nuevo mundo de la Web 2.0 hay que adaptarse y ser abierto. [...]