Comments on: Macromedia, Adobe make peace for bigger fight

Software makers join forces in $3.4 billion pact to stave off larger threats from both Microsoft and open standards.

[metric152]

I don't like the looks of this

My greatest fear is Dreamweaver becoming more like GoLive. GoLive produces some of the worst HTML I've ever seen that is barely editable outside of the program. Dreamweaver(IMHO) is one of the best programs out there for creating static, and to some extent dynamic, pages.

Flash could also take a big fall. When adobe had LiveMotion it was a decent app because they fixed some things that were hard to do in Flash, but Macromedia fixed that and LiveMotion died. Now I fear Adobe putting their hand into any of Flash.

I hope this is more of a name buyout then a developer buy out. Macromedia is the leading company in web development and I would hate to see that change because there isn't a good second option.

Who does C|Net's research?

Freehand was not released by Macromedia in answer to
Illustrator. It was purchased my Macromedia from Adobe, when
Adobe acquired Aldus. Check your facts.

[ekfritz]

more facts

Good call. how 'bout this from the article:

"Adobe, which built its name on the Portable Document Format,
or PDF, for printable digital documents".

It's as if Adobe didn't create Postscript, or Type I fonts, or
Photoshop... all WAY before PDF.

[mike ricciuti]

Macromedia and Freehand....

Macromedia acquired Freehand through its purchase of Altsys a decade ago, with the intent of competing with Adobe Illustrator as the story implies. Thanks for the information. We'll add it to the story.

[jetman8000]

i completely agree

Cnet is really dropping the ball when it comes to quality articles. Plus, that Molly Wood is a good writer and is entertaining to read, but sometimes her thoughts don't make any sense. PDF's are very reliable, and I haven't heard of many people having them crash constantly.

[montgomeryburns]

Fire Molly Wood

Fire Molly Wood

[Lucky Bob]

Um...

Maybe your argue would hold a bit more weight if you actually gave a reason WHY she should be fired...

UI Confusion Explosion

There in excess of 15 open source UI languages, there are over 25 proprietary vendors of tools for creating UI's into a proprietary format.

This is too much choice for developers wanting to create UI applications. There needs to be consolidation if it cuts down choice, but also there needs to be standards to keep vendors honest and customers free from lock in.

Or an alternative approach ........Open Presentation Server

keep your eyes open on the two main contenders:
www.orbeon.com
www.edgeipk.com

[quaribc]

We will have to see what really happens

Adobe has an almost unbreakable stronghold on printable media (i.e. mag ads, brochure designs and anything else on paper).

I have using Macromedia products for website creation from way back when and IMHO they are the best in web development for graphics and layout.

Perhaps they will keep those seperate. Former Adobe products for printable design and Macromedia just for the web. Or what would probably happened is that they will merge the strenghs of their respective products and make a designer/developer dreams come true.

oh yeah and the cost of software might go up as well.