Macromedia suite half off with new Mac

In an attempt to boost its share of the Macintosh market, Macromedia on Monday cut in half the price of its Studio MX Web content-creation software suite for people who buy a new Mac before July 31.

The promotion, titled "Dream On" after Macromedia's Dreamweaver Web authoring software, offers the Macromedia suite for $399, 56 percent off the regular price of $899.

No money changed hands between Apple Computer and Macromedia for the promotion. Macromedia characterizes it as a chance for Apple to boost its hardware sales while Macromedia deepens its inroads into the Mac market.

"We see this as a great opportunity to expand our user base on the Mac, and it's a wonderful incentive for people who are thinking of upgrading to one of these new Macs, to close the deal for them," said Ben Dillon, Macromedia's vice president of business development.

In addition to Dreamweaver, Studio MX includes Flash, animation software that Macromedia is pushing as a tool for building Web page interfaces; Fireworks, a graphics product that competes with Adobe's Photoshop title, but focuses on Web rather than print graphics; and FreeHand, an illustration title that competes with Adobe Illustrator.

Macromedia bundled these Web content-creation titles into the Studio MX suite one year ago Tuesday.

The offer is available only through Apple's various commercial channels, but not for education or government sales. It's the first time the two companies have paired up for such a promotion, Dillon said.