Software
Firefox 3: Gran Paradiso Alpha 1
Everything sounds cooler when you name it like a game. Firefox 3: Gran Paradiso Alpha 1 is out. The final version of Firefox 3 isn’t due until Fall 2007, so this is a really early sneak peek.
And to think Firefox 2 came out less than two months ago, enhanced security and all. That’s open source dev for you. By contrast, over five years passed between Internet Explorer 6 and 7 — and it still sucks. Bill Gates will retire before Microsoft gets IE right.
Blogging Kills FrontPage
I’ve been a Dreamweaver fan since the late ’90’s. Even today, I use it to tweak WordPress themes and plugins. No wonder it holds over 70% of the HTML editor market.
That’s why I do not mourn for Microsoft’s clunker of an HTML editor, FrontPage. This is what happens to a product with the arrogance to lock both client and server into expensive closed standards.
Microsoft FrontPage falls victim to blogging culture
It’s become obvious that FrontPage is going to be quietly dropped from the Beast of Redmond’s regular user orientated offerings – only to be replaced by professional design tools. Blogging sites are replacing personal Web sites for the average PC user.
Originally a classic part of Microsoft’s Office suite, FrontPage’s role will be taken care of by two new products – Expression Web and Sharepoint Designer. Both are blatantly aimed at “the professional Web designer” rather than ordinary PC users.
According to FrontPage’s own home page, “After nine years of being an award-winning (Mike: Yeah, right.) Web authoring tool, FrontPage will be discontinued in late 2006.”
My next bet for the Microsoft deadpool: Content Management Server. You can’t even blog on the damn thing.
(Via Abe Olandres.)
