Customer Reviews

Microsoft Expression Web 2 Upgrade [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I am a VERY basic web designer. I've modified my web site, designed by a professional 10 years ago. I decided I could now redesign my site with the modern tools available today, and I chose Expression Web because I had heard FrontPage was fairly simple. Expression Web does just that, and the price was just right. It has several nice templates you can use to create your modern "standards-based" site. The one big disappointment was the utter lack of any useful help. The online help is extremely basic without any explanation of features or description of dialog boxes. You have to buy some book that does this. I have found the "Visual Quickstart Guide" by Nolan Hester to be extremely useful, and inexpensive. It will at least get you started and explain some basic features of Expression Web. So, for a real neophyte, the product is very good, and does everything, and more, that I will need, and with outside books, will be just right for the price.

One thing that wasn't clear to me when purchasing this product. You only need "any version" of MS Office to install this "upgrade". The strip on the outside of the box says, "Microsoft Office (any version)". I did not have Front Page, I did not have Expression Web v. 1. I only have MS Office Home and Student 2007, and the product installed fine. So, for all practical purposes, if you have any previous MS Office, you get the full product at the reduced "upgrade" price.

I've used trial versions of SharePoint Designer and Expression Web 1 for about a year and finally bought Expression Web 2 (one copy for my son from Amazon) and a copy at work from another vendor.

I've had a web site for 12 years and used FrontPage until Microsoft engineers made FrontPage text-based hyperlinks not work in Vista. Good financial move for them resulting in a web editor update necessity for me. I have other pricey web page editors available, but prefer the simplicity of MS products because I don't need a hi-tech webpage and I don't have the time to learn the other products.

I prefer the performance and features of SharePoint Designer over Expression Web, but it's pricey to the point that I can't justify it over the equally solid performer Expression Web.

Like FrontPage of old, Expression Web 2 is a no nonsense get it done web page editor that most people will quickly learn how to navigate and easily use it to make nice web pages. It's for ordinary users and business people who need a competent easy to use interface and don't want to spend 1,000 hours mastering esoteric features in high-priced competitor products.

Russell Smith

I upgraded to Expression Web2 from Front Page. However, even if you are new to web design/maintenance, Expression Web2 is a great product. I also purchased "Expression Web for Dummies" (I couldn't find one for idiots), which is extremely helpful and highly recommended. Between the two of these products, you will be well on your way to designing and maintaining your own web site. First, grab a cup of coffee and a highlighter and start reading "Expression Web for Dummies" to familiarize yourself with the software. Then have at it!

I had Expression Web 1.0 and thought it was great but there were a few frustrations. Publishing involved more steps than it did in Frontpage. Publishing your pages or site using Expression Web 2.0 is as simple as it was in FrontPage. I haven't explored using PHP so I can't comment on that. Once you get the hang of using CSS rather than frames and tables, it is faster and easier to create a good looking site using this program. While Expression Web 2.0 is not as intuitive for a beginner as FrontPage 2003 was, using "help" and several of the really good books out there makes creating a professional looking web site achievable for those of us who are not by profession web site creators. One of the books that I really like is "Expression Web 2 on Demand" by Steve Johnson, Perspection Inc. There are also others that I use and like.

Once the program is up and running, it's fine. Unfortunately, each time the program is opened, it tries to run through a time-consuming configuration routine. That didn't happen with the beta release (which I removed before installing the final release version, per instructions) and it shouldn't be happening now. Closing the configuration screen gets the program to open without additional waiting, but it's a continuing nuisance. This bug has been discussed on Microsoft's Expression Web forum, but none of the suggestions there from other users helps. And the silence from Microsoft is deafening.

I had heard it would be difficult to learn ExpressionWeb but that wasn't the case for me. I had used FrontPage before. It was easy to convert over. EW seems much more powerful and flexible but pretty intuitive, at least thus far.

This is an excellent program for designing web pages. It is pretty easy to use but one needs a book to learn some of the fundamentals. I used Dreamweaver for several years. This program does a better job in layout work having an easier interface. I would recommend to anyone who wants to make more than rudimentary web pages.

Expression Web 2 is less reliable than Web Expression 1 which was less reliable than the last version of FrontPage. The process of making Expression Web 2 crash is very simple. Make lots of revisions to your Web page and just at the moment you figure it is time to save your page, the window turns whitish and the program churns indefinately. Eventually, you will give in and stop the churning by closing the program. When the program restarts you will see that all of your revisions were lost.

Expression Web 2 does not have an auto save feature. When it fails is random. However, I have found that if you frequently move your cursor from lower left to upper right of your window, it will crash more often.

Web Expression 2 is not ready for release, but neither was Web Expression 1. Go to the online forums that deal with Web Expression and you will read lots of reports and complaints from many users.

I publish more than 20 Web sites. My success depends on my publishing content. If I am slowed down Web Expression 2, it costs me money. Microsoft appears to be unconcerned with all of the negative reviews and complaints.

I'm currently evaluating Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver has a steep learning curve, but it appears to be more stable.

I suggest that first time Web publishers stay away from both products. Search for simple to use products. Consider whether you really need CSS. Most Web publishers don't need CSS for simple personal sites or even simple commercial sites.

If I had to make a recommendation for a novice use, it would be for the last version of FrontPage. It was easy to learn, fairly reliable, and produced good Web sites. If you are a professional using Expression Web, you should plan to migrate to Dreamweaver. It is the industry standard. If you can use Expression Web, the transition will not be as difficult as migrating from FrontPage to Dreamweaver.

I usually use Dreamweaver for my webpage design, but I'm taking an online class and was required to use Microsoft Expression Web 2. I really enjoy this program and it's very easy to use. I think this will be my new go-to software for web design. It was nice that I was able to buy the upgrade since I already had Dreamweaver and didn't have to spend a lot to get the program.

Let me start by saying that if you have never used Front Page, you won't know what you are missing with Expression Web 2. Overall, it (EW2)is a very nice program that allows you to stick with simple templates or get much more sophisticated with CSS. If you have a web site that was created using Front Page, you can still publish your site with Extensions turned on, but there is no navigation page and the ability to make navigation bars based using the wizard. There is also no photo gallery wizard and the EW for dummies book I have states that the coding used in Front Page to generate these handy features was not "quite koshure" when it came to the code. That's a shame because using those features, I could whip up a web site in 1/3 the time it takes most people using HTML code or even EW2.

All-in-all, however, this program gets the job done and does have plenty of convenient features. I am still learning EW2, but will try to dig deeper into its specifics as time allows.