favorite toys ›
Fireworks and Dreamweaver are the all-time best in show that I am praying will not soon be swamped and bloated with unnecessary features and steps. (Abloate. Do I dare name thee?) I'm a die-hard Macromedia fan, I suppose, and know that my favorites are in grave peril now that they've fallen into the hands of the uncaring monopoly.
There isn't a single Adobe product that I'm enamored of; and yet, it has somehow managed to become the industry standard. Was it guerrilla marketing that stamped out all their competitors, cut-throat acquisitions, or a combination of both? It clearly wasn't good design, because despite the fact that almost all designers wind up using it, we all struggle endlessly with it. Everything from layer management to object selection is a pain in the tush--tasks which programs like Fireworks handle effortlessly.
These days I am trying to find the time to look into Gimp, formerly only Linux-based and rumored to be just as powerful as PhotoShop and Fireworks. I would love to find a worthy competitor for Photoshop that is easier to use.
