Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 is the first rollout of this Web design application since Adobe acquired Macromedia. Is it the same Dreamweaver as before?

Installation time has doubled, not including Adobe's mandatory registration process. Once installed, Dreamweaver looks more like Adobe's other products, but it will be familiar to users of previous versions. There are some new, dockable palettes for new features, but the Welcome screen, toolbars, and main window are largely unchanged.

CSS support now features a large array of templates and new tools to help manage styles, and commentary on how best to use the CSS--including Internet Explorer workarounds. Improved integration means you can drag a Photoshop file directly to Dreamweaver, and select and copy any area of a PS image, including layers, and paste it into Dreamweaver.

Adobe's new Spry framework for Ajax is a JavaScript library of code snippets that makes it easy to add client-side behaviors. It's broken into Effects, which are animations, Data, which binds dynamic data to HTML, and Widgets, which create interactive elements such as pop-up menus.

Those learning the baby steps of Web design should take a class or read some books before diving in. Dreamweaver's advanced features won't be intuitive for anyone who hasn't studied them first. But because of the high price tag, we don't recommend upgrading to CS3 as a standalone product.

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