Microsoft FrontPage

From Free net encyclopedia

Microsoft FrontPage is a WYSIWYG HTML editor and web site administration tool from Microsoft for the Windows operating system. It is part of Microsoft Office and included in some versions of the popular bundle. It can also be purchased separately at a street price of approximately US$175.

1 Overview
2 Superceded by two new products
3 Versions
4 See also
5 External links

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Overview

FrontPage was initially created by the Cambridge, Massachusetts company Vermeer Technologies Incorporated, evidence of which can be easily spotted in filenames and directories prefixed _vti_ in web sites created using FrontPage. Vermeer was acquired by Microsoft in 1996 specifically so that Microsoft could add FrontPage to its product line-up. Image:Microsoft Frontpage.gif FrontPage used to require proprietary plugins known as the FrontPage Server Extensions to be installed in the target web server for it to work. However newer versions of FrontPage also support the standard WebDAV protocol from W3C.

As a WYSIWYG editor, FrontPage is designed to hide the details of pages' HTML code from the user, making it possible for novices to easily create web pages and sites. Some web developers criticize this approach as producing HTML pages that are much larger than they should be and cause web browsers to perform poorly. In addition, some people criticize FrontPage specifically for producing code that often does not comply with W3C standards and sometimes does not display correctly in non-Microsoft web browsers. Some have even speculated that FrontPage's proprietary code intentionally interferes with the functionality of alternative browsers in an effort to pester users into using Internet Explorer, Microsoft's own browser.

A version for Mac OS was released around 1998; however, it had fewer features than the Windows product and Microsoft has not updated it since.

FrontPage's primary competitor is Macromedia Dreamweaver, another web design product (street price US$380, April 2006).

One of the more unique features of FrontPage is its built in support for automated web templates. The main distinction between these templates and HTML templates generated by other products is that FrontPage templates include an automatic navigation system that creates animated buttons for pages that have been added by the user. It also creates an advanced multi-level navigation system on the fly using the buttons and the structure of the web site.

FrontPage templates also include proprietary FrontPage themes which can be used in place of cascading style sheets. FrontPage themes can quickly give a professional look to a site, but make subsequent website management difficult for non-FrontPage tools.

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Superceded by two new products

In 2006, Microsoft announced that FrontPage would eventually be superseded by two products. Microsoft SharePoint Designer will allow business professionals to design SharePoint-based applications. Microsoft Expression Web Designer is targeted for web design professionals who create full-blown web sites. Both are partially based on FrontPage and are currently in development.

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Versions

Image:FrontPage98.png

The current (and the final) version is Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003, Version 6. No new versions will be offered. Previous versions include:

Vermeer FrontPage 1.0
Microsoft FrontPage 1.1
Microsoft FrontPage 97
Microsoft FrontPage Express 2.0 (free stripped-down version came with Internet Explorer 4.0)
Microsoft FrontPage 98
Microsoft FrontPage 2000 (version 4)
Microsoft FrontPage 2002 (version 5)
Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 (version 6)

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