Microsoft Visual Studio Professional w/ MSDN Premium 2005 Review

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(More customer reviews)What can I say? Visual Studio Pro and MSDN Premium together are the essential foundations for developing software for Microsoft Windows platforms. For the complete life cycle of a commercial product there are excellent additional specialized tools for help authoring and QA as well as Visual Studio add-ins available from other companies that can significantly boost productivity. For the most part VS and MSDN are all you need to get seriously started. Great product!

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Microsoft offers Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition for professional developers working alone or in small teams. It gives them complete access to the .NET Framework 2.0, a robust, fully functional development environment; support for creating tools that extend the Visual Studio integrated development environment; and tools for creating multi-tier Windows, Web, and mobile device applications.

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Expression Studio 4 Ultimate Upgrade Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Expression Web Fails to run.
I have sent the message below to the Manufacturer. There is no place to report malfunctioning software without paying them. The told me the Expression web forum is the only place to report program failures. I've made two reports there. No one has responded. The failure of this program really hurts my business, and there is no way to report this to the manufacturer.
Expression Web 4 stops running and runs too slow to be usable. My computer runs all other programs well including Expression Web 3. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the .Net Framework. This program is defective and I need to know if it is going to be a supported product, and where I can report it as defective.

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Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Ultimate opens up a new world of creative possibility. Its professional design tools give you the freedom to make your vision real--whether you're designing for standards-based Web sites, rich desktop experiences, or Silverlight. Includes Expression Web, Expression Blend, SketchFlow, Expression Design and Expression Encoder Pro.

Upgrade to Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Ultimate
You must be a licensed user of one of the following products to be eligible for this upgrade version:
Any Microsoft Expression product
Any Adobe Creative Suite product
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or later

Quickly create an effective prototype to present ideas, user interface flows, screen layouts and application functionality to your clients. Click here for a larger image

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Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Standard Review

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(More customer reviews)Having purchased and been very happy with Acrobat 4-6 standard editions, I am sorry to say Version 7 is real step backwards for Adobe:
-- The program will not read many pdf documents Acrobat 4-6 will (this may some sort of font copyright problem or just a flaw in this version of the software).
-- The Activation process is tedious, difficult and prevents you from using your own software, even if you only install it on one machine.
Having purchased this software almost a year ago, I uninstalled it because it did not read files Acrobat 6 does, as mentioned above. I thought this might be a bug in the program which Adobe would fix. So I installed and uninstalled it several times, each time the program would not work. Now the program tells me I have activated it too many times, though I have no working copy of the program. The software tells me to call Adobe customer support, but after keeping me in a computer loop for 10 minutes I learn the "call center" is closed, or there is simply no answer after 50 minutes.
If I could return this software I would. It does not work. I can't return my copy, but you don't have to buy a copy. Stick with 6.0 or the cheaper Scansoft program. Acrobat 7.0 does not work, and after a time Adobe won't let you use, even if you buy it, full price.

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Serif WebPlus X4 Review

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(More customer reviews)I always dreamed of having my own website but never had the courage to start learning how to do this.
One day i bought an excellent learning video on DVD about creating websites using Adobe Dreamweaver CS4.
After 12 hours of listening to these learning sessions i asked myself if there is no other way than programming houndreds of html-tags and css style sheets and making more cryptic manupulations only to get a first homepage.
I asked myself how long it would take to build a complete site using these tools ...
I decided to look a little bit around and i found Serif webplus x4, an all in one package for a very cheap price.
After running webplus x4 and reading some small online tutorials about it i told myself that this is the way i want to build my website by using this fantastic graphical toolkit.
The whole website was finished in only one day !
With webplus x4 you can now also insert html ond javascript code on your pages.
What is also very important is that you can have "Master pages" as a basic layout for the rest of the pages.
Publishing your site via ftp to the hosting server is also completely handled in a differential way by webplus x4.
Integration into the most popular search engines can also be done with some clicks and by inserting some authentification html code on the homepage.
If you want to build easily a website where graphical design is your focus and not spending days of coding html and css styles then this is your product.
I cannot imagine using another tool than webplus x4 in the future and therefore i give 5 stars.


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WebPlus X4 is Serif's amazing website creation software that combines power, flexibility, and intuitive ease of use, so you can create attractive, engaging websites--with no HTML or prior experience. Perfect for businesses, organizations, clubs, schools, and personal sites, WebPlus X4 includes everything needed for professional-quality results. This release brings together an easy visual page designer, forms, free online tools and services, PayPal and other e-commerce, search engine optimization, graphics tools, photo editing, analytics, publishing, maintenance, and tutorial videos.

Everything You Need
NEW! Photo Editing Edit photos for your website without leaving WebPlus X4 using the new PhotoLab. Remove backgrounds using the Image Cutout Studio or enhance images by adding one or more of over 70 effects and adjustments.
Professionally adjust and correct photos
Easily add amazing effects
Quickly remove blemishes and scratches
Apply adjustments with single clicks
Edit or undo changes at any time

IMPROVED! Site Navigation Use one of the customisable Flash navigation bars and impress visitors with the look of your website.
IMPROVED! Graphic design Create tailored graphics for your website with the built-in drawing tools, shapes, effects, styles, and more.
IMPROVED! Word Processing Not only can you create and edit text just like a word processor but you can now import Word documents too!
Incredibly Easy to Use
NEW! QuickBuilder Bar It's now even quicker and easier to build websites with the new QuickBuilder Bar. Easily drag and drop a text frame, image, Flash photo gallery, and more from the QuickBuilder Bar onto your page for fast website design.
Easy as 1-2-3!
Create websites from professional templates
Design and edit with the QuickBuilder Bar
Publish pages instantly with Quick Publish

No HTML or other programming required The desktop publishing-style approach allows you to design your website to look exactly how you want it. All the coding is done for you behind the scenes!
IMPROVED! Video tutorials and learning Get support easily. Videos, PDF tutorials, our online knowledge base, and active community forums can all be accessed from the new Learning Zone.
Powerful Web Gadgets
Forums, Blogs, Forms & More Make engaging and interactive websites by adding forums, blogs, polls, online forms and more--all provided and hosted for free by Serif.
NEW! Online bookings Your customers can book rooms, tables, sporting facilities, services, or anything you can think of using the new interactive Resource Booker.
NEW! Google Maps Put your business on the map--literally--with Google Maps. Ideal for Find us or Contact us pages.
NEW! Content management Edit the content of your site from any computer with an internet connection. Fantastic for quick updates and news.
Secure members' areas Create individual login details for selected users and grant them access to specific areas on your site.
Secure e-Commerce Stores
IMPROVED! Sell securely online Using e-commerce to sell online has never been easier. Not only can it display an unlimited amount of products but now you can have up to 10 options (like size, colour, etc.) for each item. We've also teamed up with the top shopping cart providers so you can be sure that all your transactions are 100% secure.
Easy wizard to setup your online store
Choice of providers including PayPal
Security for you and your customers

NEW! Google AdSense Increase your revenue by placing targeted ads by Google on your website, earning you money whenever your visitors click on them
$50 Google AdWords included Attract new customers using our free gift to you--$50 of free Google advertising. Promote your business and reach potential customers. Terms and conditions apply.
Media-Rich Websites
IMPROVED! Animated photo galleries Show off you pictures in all their glory in one of the 36 highly customisable animated photo galleries. There are 12 new Flash galleries plus all the old favourites so there will always be one that's perfect for your pictures.
The photo galleries in WebPlus X4 can now handle 1000s of images, multiple albums, and link to RSS image feeds (from sites like Flickr) so your latest photos can appear online without updating your site.
IMPROVED! YouTube videos Your friends, family, and customers can now enjoy high definition YouTube videos on your website--now with extra features like autoplay for instant viewing.
Audio & podcasts Host or stream music on your website and get your fans to subscribe to your podcast updates via iTunes so they never miss out on what's new.
News feeds Create your own RSS feed for people to subscribe to or show feeds from other sites and make your website a place with up-to-the-minute news.
Flash animations Easily add Flash animations to your website to engage visitors and give your site a more professional look.
Perfect Websites--Fast
IMPROVED! Professional templates With over 40 professionally-designed, fully-customisable templates and themed layouts included, there's plenty to choose from to create your perfect website.
NEW! Quick publishing Make updates to individual sites pages with just one click thanks to the new Quick Publish option. It's great for speedy updates and adding news to your site
NEW! Google Analytics Discover who your customers are, and a whole lot more, with Google Analytics. WebPlus X4 makes it easy to integrate this industry-standard tool into your website.
Search Engine Optimisation Make sure your site can be easily found by popular search engines like Google and Yahoo! by taking advantage of the simple SEO tools in WebPlus X4.
New Feature Highlights
QuickBuilder Bar The QuickBuilder Bar makes creating websites faster by providing commonly used web elements.
Photo Editing Now you don't need a separate photo editing program thanks to the powerful photo editing features.
Online Bookings Take customer bookings for rooms, tables, events and more with the new Resource Booker.
Google Gadgets Add cool Google gadgets including Maps, Adsense and Analytics to any site with just a few clicks.
Flash Navbars Navigate around your website in style with one of the new animated Flash navigation bars.
Pro Photo Galleries Your pictures will be beautifully displayed in one of the high-quality Flash photo galleries.
Quick Publish Update sites instantly! It only takes one click to update a page with the new Quick Publish feature.
New Learning Zone Watch video tutorials, print PDF guides, or view the knowledge base from the new Learning Zone.
Colour Scheme Designer Create a unique colour scheme for your website to make it stand out from the crowd.
Content Management System Make quick edits and updates to your website content from any PC with an internet connection.

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Serif WebPlus X5 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)With a little basic knowledge of working your way around a computer I created a 26 page web site in two days. Once it is hosted and on the web i will post it here so you can see what you can create. I know I am scratching the surface and the site could be cleaned up to look and opperate better, but a multi-layered web site was pretty easy to create.
The help feature is great. No matter what my question I found a very imformative help section that guided me through the process. Many questions I had were answerable through a very helpful video, no more than 2-3 minutes a piece, on the subject in question. Serif has made the process of designing a website as painless and easy for novices as possible.
I was worried that since they did not have religious templates to guide me or work from, the church web site I designed would not look right. I was wrong. The predesigned templates on the program were a good starting point and were quickly edited and redesigned to make my site look professional and original. In most of the 26 pages I never used a template and just designed on the fly. It was easy and a lot of fun.
I highly recommend this product.

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Serif WebPlus X5--Professional-Quality Web Sites Made Easy
WebPlus X5 is the ultimate web-site design software for small businesses, organizations, and home users. You don't need to know any HTML--drag-and-drop simplicity, an intuitive interface, and powerful tools help you design sites easily, even if you've never done it before.

Setting the standard for web-design software!
See how WebPlus X5 compares to other packages. View larger.

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Serif WebPlus Essentials Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this product directly from Serif and got this copy as a gift. A super easy, non-technical program that anyone can use to build remarkable websites with. This program comes chocked full of templates, graphics and other resources that can be used by even a novice to simply get the job done - but done well. It saves me so much time I've put away other more expensive programs like XSitePro and use this as my principle software for websites. I know one person who shelved Dreamweaver and uses WebPlus now.
Serif also has add-on kits for additional templates, fonts and resources for this program. No other web building software in my experience (and I've tried dozens) does as much, as easily and as well as this one. Most of us want to be about our business, not becoming programmers. Webplus gets the job done. Sure Dreamweaver and other professional grade software are more feature rich - but they have very steep learning curves. This program is plug and play. Pick a template, enter your content and publish. Updates to your site are a breeze. This program hits on all cylinders, including a fantastic manual and support documentation.
I waited until this new edition came out because Serif had let WebPlus get behind other venders in terms of speed and functionality. No longer, this program jumps ahead of the pack - and at half the price. The additional templates and resources are icing on the cake. If you've wanted a website but they cost too much to outsource (have others create) or were too technical for you to create yourself the solution is here.

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Take the complication out of web design--WebPlus Essentials puts building a fun or sophisticated website within everyone's reach. Its unique combination of impressive templates, drag and drop design simplicity, and online gadgets make WebPlus Essentials the ideal choice for tackling your first website.
Easy Web design--no HTML coding required.

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Xara Web Designer 6 Review

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(More customer reviews)Xara/Magix software is a well kept secret in designer circles - competing against the vast Adobe juggernaut at a fraction of the price.
The software focuses on the generation of static web pages/sites by the use of a WYSIWYG design interface allowing the user to concentrate on design, without the need to know very much (nothing really) about HTML.
The software is far easier to use than HTML-based editors and when the design is complete, the software generates the html for the web pages/site and can transfer the whole site to your web host.
The software currently includes a free hosting offer from Magix.
Primarily designed for the consumer/small business market, many professional designers that use far more expensive software also use Xara software for rapid prototyping and/or small web projects, so it has a wide appeal.
The software generates HTML rather than edits it, so it's not the software of choice for a HTML coder (there is limited scope for editing the generated HTML or controlling appearance with CSS), but even for HTML coders, it is one of the fastest prototyping/mockup tools around and better still you can post those prototypes directly to the web.
This edition of the software is designed to be a low cost entry-level solution to those who don't wish to purchase the "bigger brother" to this software - Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 6 which has more design capabilities and is also highly recommended.
The manufacturer has an extensive website to demonstrate the capabilities of the software and a vibrant user community at talkgraphics.com.
The software is a bargain and almost a well-kept secret.


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Xara Web Designer 6 is an innovative all-in-one solution combining the advantages of a template-based building block systemwith a number of unique features for a flexible design process. Therefore, it's suitable for professionals as well as hobbyistweb designers who want to create their own websites or simply improve existing ones. It comes with an extensive number ofuniversal design templates, integrated image optimization features and offers text layout, graphic design, flexible customizationand FTP publishing in a single product. It also allows for fast and easy creation of flash animations from scratch and helpsto integrate already existing online shops or partner programs like Google AdSense. As an additional bonus, MAGIX offers 500MBfree online storage and individual web addresses (http://yourname.magix.net) which can be accessed via FTP directly fromwithin the program.

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Adobe Flex Builder Pro 3.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Flex 3, the framework and the Flex Builder 3 Pro IDE (just "Flex" from now on), are perhaps the best kept secret in programming I've witnessed (this being the first Amazon review for a product released back in February? Amazing!). Specific to web development, I've worked with several other scripting languages (e.g., Javascript, PHP, Python, and Ruby) and their available frameworks, assistive text editors, and integrated development environments like Dreamweaver, Servoy, and Eclipse (which is what Flex Builder runs on). These are all fine approaches to building web applications, but for my time, effort, and money, Flex 3 and Flex Builder 3 Pro (Eclipse) is my top choice.
Flex offers a three-tiered approach to building powerful applications and "rich" user experiences. The first tier is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) design mode editor. You can create the lion's share of your application, and practically the entire user interface and design themes (which are CSS-based), in design mode. Next, Flex offers a simple and lean XML-based language (MXML), which serves as a framework and front-end for ActionScript (i.e., Flash). You code in MXML (with considerably fewer lines of code than it would take to code directly in ActionScript), and the the compiler automatically generates your ActionScript from your MXML. For maximum tweaking and customization, you can code directly in ActionScript. You can and usually will, of course, mix the three approaches within one application, and this is remarkably easy and integrated. Documentation is comprehensive. The Flex component and style explorers are awesome. The community is generous and helpful, and there's lot's of free source code, examples, etc.
So, this is as much a 5-star review for Flex 3 as it is for Flex Builder 3 Pro. I cannot imagine using one without the other.

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Item #: Q41374. Adobe Flex Builder 3 Professional offers all of the powerful features included in Adobe Flex Builder 3 Standard plus powerful memory and performance profiling tools, the new Advanced Datagrid, support for automated functional testing, and extensible charting components for rich data visualization. Product Description: Adobe Flex Builder Professional - ( v. 3 ) - complete packageCategory: Development toolsSubcategory: Development tools - web applicationsVersion: 3License Type: Complete packageLicense Qty: 1 userLicense Pricing: StandardLanguage(s): Universal EnglishPlatform: Windows, MacOSDistribution Media: DVD-ROMPackage Type: RetailOS Required: Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Apple MacOS X 10.5, Apple MacOS X 10.4.7 - 10.4.10 Customers also search for: Technology\Software\Developer Software Discount Adobe Flex Builder Professional - ( V. 3 ) - Complete Package, Buy Adobe Flex Builder Professional - ( V. 3 ) - Complete Package, Wholesale Adobe Flex Builder Professional - ( V. 3 ) - Complete Package, 0883919144580, 38044388, Developer Software

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Expression Studio 4 Web Professional Upgrade Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm a fairly newbie web page creator. My previous editor Hot Dog from Sausage quit working with Windows 7 and I needed a new one. Since I had Microsoft Office I took advantage of the cheaper price you get for having both products.
It's a nice product for the price.
The installation and the licensing were flawless. My download was from the Microsoft site for the evaluation copy but I bought my final copy from Amazon and the licensing was no problem.
Documentation
The editor was not real intuitive I thought. There are lots of web resources to help including some nice videos and the Help pages that come are nice but there is no manual with the editor either printed or online. But then my old (and I mean real old) editor didn't either, but this editor has lots more features.
I ended up buying a copy of Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Expression Web 4 in 24 Hours from Barnes and Noble. I'm only half way through and am not working on my own pages yet but the book is great and I love Expression Web 4 now that the book has shown me the way. Expression Web 4 looks like a great product.
Couple of glitches so far
I did have a few issues with the editor. I was looking at a large web page (19,000 lines) that gets generated by some software on my PC and it was not letting me click on a tag and show me the end tag (The tag i.e. the whole page). The page had a couple of errors on it, like no and no tags and the code view page just takes forever to update and locks up and stuff like that. It seems to run much better after I fixed a few of the obvious errors. And it did not report those missing tags, I had to look for them.
But I still like the program.
Panels
There are various command/menu panels you can put up to help you and they can stack next to each other side by side or on top of each other or be tabbed together in the same window. Just drag and drop them to move them. They can be very tough to drop where you want them. I want them on top of each other and I end up side by side, and so on.
Multiple Browsers
I love the ability to click and have the web pages come up in all the different browsers I have on my PC

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Microsoft Expression Web 4 gives you the tools you need to produce high-quality, standards-based Web sites, with built-in support for today's Web standards, sophisticated CSS design capabilities, and visual diagnostic tools. Whether you work with PHP, HTML/XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, ASP.NET or ASP.NET AJAX, Expression Web makes it fast to create and maintain exceptional Web sites. With a professional code editor, visual & CSS diagnostic tools, cross-browser debugging features, broad Web standards support, and SEO compatibility reports, Expression Web makes it easy to create modern standards-based Web sites.

Upgrade to Expression Studio 4 Web Professional
You must be a licensed user of one of the following products to be eligible for this upgrade version:
Any Microsoft Expression product
Any Adobe Creative Suite
Any Microsoft Office product

Powerful vector drawing and editing tools for creating compelling graphic designs and illustrations. Click here for a larger image

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