Over the last couple of months there has been some new excitement coming from Adobe with the development of their new web editor- Adobe Muse. So, what is Adobe Muse, what can it do, what can it not do, and what makes it different from Dreamweaver, and is Adobe hurting itself by having two different web editors on the market?

My first impression of Muse is that it is Adobe giving in to the Microsoft Frontpage-type audience and trying to reach an audience they have not been able to reach before – those people who either don’t want to spend the money on a full size, top of the line program like Dreamweaver, or those people who will never, ever want to learn HTML, and settle for some half-baked website.

As I looked at Muse a little closer, it is trying to compete against iWeb, Expression Web, Coffee Cup, and Frontpage, but wanting to take it up a notch were you do have more control over your site. You can place things with more precision and design a site that is much closer to using a real, grown-up editor like Dreamweaver.  It is a true WYSIWYG editor. I imagine it is a bit rough around the edges, and early users may get a bit frustrated. Waiting for version 2.0 may be a better option once they get plenty of user feedback on how to make it better.

All the stuff you learn from your Dreamweaver Courses about HTML, CSS, etc. – throw it out the window. You won’t need it with Muse. It is not made for people who even have a rudimentary understanding of HTML.

One of the early complaints from some of the early users is that there are no templates and help with design. This is kind of important for those who are just getting started. I’m sure there will be templates created on the secondary market for people to purchase, but all you’re getting is the program, and that’s it.

My opinion is that Adobe entered a market that wasn’t necessary for it to enter. In reality, Dreamweaver has a WYSIWYG editor. You can build a site that is split screen or just the WYSIWYG editor. I have a friend who uses Dreamweaver CS4, and he has never touched a line of code. He just builds from the WYSIWYG editor, makes adjustments with the editor boxes at the bottom of the screen, and builds some nice sites.

I think the folks in the board room at Adobe got this one wrong. Why enter that market when you are the king of the universe with Dreamweaver? I don’t think Muse was built to be a stepping stone. If anything, make DW a little more friendly on the WYSIWYG side of things to capture a bigger audience there.

So, try it if you like, but I can think of something better to do with $149 than to buy Muse. You could buy the academic version of DW for about that price and have the best. Oh well… they didn’t ask me. Save your money and your brain and stick with Dreamweaver.