Is it me or is it Dreamweaver MX 2004

February 27, 2006 2:33 PM

Why does Dreamweaver MX 2004 suck so bad in mac 10.4.4? I'm trying to create a very simple page with one style sheet. Dreamweaver renders the page completely incorrectly, with divs and images in all the wrong places.

I've reinstalled the program with the same results. Yet when I view the code in any broswer by hitting F12, the page renders as it should. Is there a way to make Dreamweaver render correctly that I'm simply overlooking.

Barring that, what are my other options? Is GoLive any better? Or should I just give myself over to BBEdit full-time and just hand code?

What do others do?

posted by captainscared to computers & internet (7 comments total)

I deal with it; Dreamweaver 8 is no better IMO (I am a dw fan, but not for macs.) GoLive may run less problematically, but is inferior (does adobe still make Golive?)
posted by AllesKlar at 2:45 PM on February 27, 2006

I just use DW in code-view and check my work in a browser
posted by Mick at 3:08 PM on February 27, 2006

Yeah, working on CSS in DW isn't very easy. Although I am far from an expert, I recommend the web developer plugin for Firefox. Edit the CSS real-time, and paste it into your code.
posted by starman at 3:31 PM on February 27, 2006

I have an 800mhz Ibook with 10.4.5 and 640mb memory. DW is painfully slow, and I am almost tempted to get a pc laptop just to not have to deal with the sluggishness. Tell me the macbook will set me free...
posted by mecran01 at 3:38 PM on February 27, 2006

The "problem" is that Dreamweaver's design view isn't supposed to be a 100% accurate representation of the view in a browser, for the simple fact that Macromedia would then have to pick A browser to have it render for. Unfortunately, it does mean that if you are using it for standards-based, pure CSS layouts, the Design view becomes basically worthless. You are designing your page for the browser, so if it looks good there, then your work is done.

MX2004 has a slightly improved CSS rendering engine than MX did (but it was still far from perfect.) Dreamweaver 8 on the PC at least is fantastic for this. I don't have any experience using it on a Mac, though.
posted by robhuddles at 4:06 PM on February 27, 2006

Dreamweaver 8's better than Dreamweaver MX 2004 on a Mac.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:05 PM on February 27, 2006

I just previewed in browser. MX2004 does ok for text related styles but really falls apart when using CSS-P.

Dreamweaver 8 is far better in this regard, but it is not perfect. Always preview is the way to go. 8 also has tabs for the Mac version.
posted by juiceCake at 8:53 PM on February 27, 2006