A bug in mechanism that counts down the remaining days of trial versions of most Adobe software means that any trial launched during June 2008 will expire after only one day instead of the normal 30. Access to the trial versions has already been blocked on the Adobe site, but if you have already downloaded a trial with the intention of installing it later, don’t install during June. If you do so, it will expire after one day—and you won’t be able to reinstall it on the same machine. For more information, read the FAQ on the Adobe site.
May 28th, 2008
Many people were underwhelmed—wrongly in my opinion—by the last two releases of Dreamweaver. Well, Adobe has been working for the past year on the next version (Dreamweaver CS4), and it’s taken the bold decision to release it as a public beta. Be prepared to be stunned. It’s got a new interface to give an overall feel of unity with the rest of Creative Suite, but the changes are much more than skin deep.
I have prepared a couple of video tutorials to give you a whirlwind tour of some of the main new features, which are now live on my website. In the meantime, get on over to Adobe Labs to grab your own version of the Dreamweaver CS4 public beta.
You need a serial number to use the beta beyond two days. To get a serial number, you need to have a valid serial number for Dreamweaver CS3 or any of the CS3 Creative Suites. There’s also a forum to discuss things you like and don’t like about the new version. Don’t forget that it is a beta, so not everything is working perfectly yet. Developer Toolbox users also need to be aware that the current version of ADDT is not compatible with the public beta.
If like me, you’re heavily into server-side technology, you might be disappointed that there are no significant changes to the server behaviors. But believe me, there are so many brilliant new features (the full list is on the Adobe Labs site), this is the most significant upgrade to Dreamweaver since the release of Dreamweaver MX six years ago.
Grab it, and enjoy!
May 27th, 2008
I’ve had my head down for the past few months pounding away at my next book, PHP Object-Oriented Solutions. I put the finishing touches to the final chapter a couple of days ago, and it’s now in the hands of the friends of ED technical review and editorial process. There’s a preview of what the book contains on the foED site, and I plan to get more details up on my own site in the not too distant future.
The book is due to be published in August. The date was chosen because that’s when all support for PHP 4 officially comes to an end. The painfully slow migration to PHP 5 by hosting companies has severely hindered the adoption of object-oriented programming (OOP) among PHP developers, but I hope this book will convince readers that OOP makes for cleaner scripts that are easier to maintain. PHP Object-Oriented Solutions is aimed at readers who feel at home with basic PHP, but want to take their skills to the next level. It’s a gentle, but fast-paced introduction to the delights and mysteries of OOP.
May 3rd, 2008
The instructions in The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS3 and Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8 were written before the release of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). Revised instructions for setting up virtual hosts on Leopard can now be found in the Tutorials section of my website.
May 3rd, 2008