Dreamweaver is a hefty slug
It’s got so many features that
- I don’t use
- I won’t use
- take up loads of memory
MacromediaAdobe charge too much for.
I’m starting to find it a hindrance to use, so I’ve been looking around for a replacement.
Not one, but two.
I use Dreamweaver to do exactly two things:
- write the code for the websites
- upload the code to the servers by FTP.
While Dreamweaver does code quite well, it doesn’t do FTP well at all, and is cumbersome at both tasks. Taking a lesson from that, I probably don’t want an all-in-one solution again. Anyway, sometimes I’ll just write code, sometimes I’ll just FTP - I don’t need both at the same time.
Transmit
Transmit has been talked about a lot on the ‘net, and I’ve been testing it out quite a lot. It has some pretty cool features (not least it’s speed and ease of use) which set it far apart from Dreamweaver.
The other day they introduced ‘droplets’, which makes icons you can put just about anywhere. Drag files or folders onto the icon and it snaps quickly into action, uploading the files to a specified FTP directory on the site… and quietly finishing, too.
Transmit is only £17 ($30) which in the world of software is an absolute bargain! They also do discount deals for new (integer) versions, which is appealing.
TextMate
This I will say: TextMate is an extremely powerful application.
But with power comes a degree of complexity which I’ll have to take some time to learn. It’s got great project management features which work very nicely and very, very quickly.
TextMate is very flexible, and it looks like it has a very good developer behind it (as well as a fair sized community, which is always a plus!).
TextMate costs more at £27 (€39), which is slightly more than I would expect, but good nonetheless. The price does actually make me think twice before buying it… but I probably will anyway.
When to make the switch, though?
Well, I would say when I have £45 knocking about the place. Which isn’t very often at all 
Ah well, birthday’s coming up soon!
(P.s. can’t be bothered to insert icons - too much hastle…)
I have used Dreamweaver a wee bit and found it complex and overpowered. When I looked for something different people would ask why I did. For me Dreamweaver was like MS Office and other bundled/all included programs or suites:
1. too many features that go to waste
2. memory hogs
3. too expensive
Even free programs like Open Office can be problematic considering points one and two. What happened to simple and efficient programs? I think you are on the right track.
Hi Fintan
I agree - ditch Dreamweaver! I used to use Freeway Pro which I think did a better job of it but I ditched that as well. Now I use Textwrangler.
Have you considered using it. It is very able and hugely FREE:
http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/
I have used it for ages and would love to step up to bbedit just can’t afford to at the moment.
Textwrangler can cope with a whole range of codes. Php, html, css etc.
Cyberduck is a good ftp - it gets 4 stars on Macupdate:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8392
Again it’s free!
I hope that helps.
Rich
@ Leon: MS Office is a pretty good example of bloat…
@ Rich: Thanks for the leads.
I have tried text wrangler in the past, but I don’t really feel comfortable with the interface.
Cyberduck, however, looks really good and I’m going to give it a go in a moment.
-Fin