Adobe Labs Announces Dreamweaver, Fireworks & Soundbooth CS4 Betas
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Adobe Labs unveiled a nice surprise this morning by releasing public betas of the next versions of their Dreamweaver (web design/coding), Fireworks (web graphics editor) and Soundbooth (audio editor) programs. Each program includes a host of updates and improvements, including UI changes to bring them more in time (visually) with other CS apps.
The betas are functional for 48 hours, unless you have a valid license for CS3. If so, they are (presumably) functional until the official release of CS4 (for which Adobe hasn’t yet mentioned any potential dates).
Microsoft’s Silverlight and True Cross-Platform Compatibility
Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
Much has been made this week of Microsoft’s announced “Flash-killer” browser plug-in and development platform, Silverlight. To quote Redmond, “Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of Microsoft .NET–based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.”
Their early demos look impressive, and most interestingly, heavily promote the software’s cross-platform compatibility. Unlike previous Microsoft efforts (Windows Media Player, I’m talking about you), Silverlight is (purportedly) designed to run seamlessly on the Mac’s Safari and Firefox browsers (not just Windows platforms). TechCrunch’s Nik Cubrilovic provides an excellent overview.
While that all sounds well and good, real world performance may in fact be another matter. ClickZ News documents their attempts to get the plug-in successfully installed on a number of their Macs, with little luck and also reported that Microsoft’s WMV demo video wouldn’t even play in Windows Media Player for Mac (they had to revert to the excellent open-source program VLC to get the demo to play). Conversely, we were able to install Silverlight and play a range of demo content without issue on one of our Intel-based Mac’s here in the office.
Some major media players (including CBS, Netflix and Major League Baseball) have already signed onto the new platform. It’ll be interesting to see how Silverlight’s market penetration spreads in the coming months, as compatible content begins to appear, as well as what effect, if any, it ultimately on Adobe’s Flash.
Introducing Coherence
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006
I’ve been a big fan of Parallels Desktop since it’s initial release. For the uninitiated, Parallels is a virtualization solution for Intel-based Macs that allows you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously within OS X. Thus, I can run Windows XP within it’s own self-contained window on my desktop, alongside by usual Mac software. It’s an excellent solution for those who prefer the Mac environment but may still need to run a few PC-only programs. Here at Bainbridge, we utilize Parallels to more easily test websites and HTML emails across both Mac and PC systems, all on one machine, all on the same screen.
This week, the fine folks at Parallels have upped the ante, releasing an ambitious Beta upgrade to Parallels. It includes a number of significant new features, including drag and drop copying (the ability to simply drag and drop files between operating systems).
What really caught my eye, and what I think will really impress a lot of other folks, is the introduction of Coherence, a Parallels framework that basically hides much of the extraneous Windows desktop, showing just the actively running window/programs. So, what’s the big deal? The big deal is that now you can literally run Internet Explorer, Outlook, Office 2007, etc. side by side with Safari, iLife, and more, without having to switch between desktops.
Checkout these screen caps taken on my MacBook Pro. The first features a neat trick for hiding/revealing the Windows XP toolbar (using it’s Auto Hide function) by tucking it under the OS X menu bar at the top of the screen. All of my XP software is just a couple clicks away, but I don’t have to fully jump back and forth betwen the two operating systems to access them.
The second screen cap below showcases the side-by-side effect; Internet Explorer 6 and Safari are both open onscreen and I can easily jump between the two.
