Studio MX is comprised of Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX, Flash MX and FreeHand 10; all share a similar Macromedia interface. In addition, the Windows version of this cross-platform suite includes the developer edition of ColdFusion MX Server, as well as HomeSite+, an enhanced version of the venerable hand-coding tool.

All of these programs are excellent. You've probably seen in-depth reviews of at least some of them, so we'll provide capsule summaries here and concentrate on the net effect of the whole Studio MX package, which easily deserves its five-star rating.

Let's begin with Dreamweaver MX, which has had a very significant makeover. Dreamweaver has long been the leading "professional" visual HTML editor; it is now much more than that. The program has acquired a much better hand-coding interface (though still not as good as HomeSite's), and has also assumed the programming roles formerly held by ColdFusion Studio and UltraDev, both of which have been discontinued. In addition, Dreamweaver has picked up new server-side programming capabilities: it can now handle ASP.NET and PHP, along with ASP, ColdFusion and JSP.

We must confess to a bias toward hand-coding, and so we've been slow to take advantage of some of Dreamweaver's innovations over the years. But this is far and away the best version of the program to date, and it's immediately useful—we've called on Dreamweaver to implement quick solutions in both ColdFusion and PHP. (The inclusion of PHP, by the way, makes Dreamweaver more useful than ever to Mac users. OS X now makes it possible to set up a server with Apache/PHP/MySQL to test Web applications locally, something that couldn't be done before, at least not with mainstream tools.)

Fireworks MX is more of an evolutionary product, but still offers significant improvements to what was already the best Web image editor. It's a superb program, essential for Web designers. FreeHand 10 is well-integrated with the rest of the suite, and a worthwhile addition—this long-established illustration program is fully competitive with Adobe Illustrator (in fact, many designers prefer FreeHand).

Flash MX has evolved more significantly still. ActionScript, the Flash JavaScript-like programming language, has taken on new capabilities, and Flash is now integrated more tightly with ColdFusion, which creates some interesting new programming possibilities. Flash MX has also made some progress in addressing criticisms aimed at its lack of accessibility for handicapped users.

ColdFusion MX represents perhaps the most dramatic makeover in the entire suite—the renowned Web application server, which Macromedia acquired from Allaire a couple of years back, has been entirely rewritten in Java. It's acquired additional power (including the power to run JSPs and servlets), yet it remains responsive and largely compatible with previous versions. ColdFusion's CFML language, which is tag-based, has long been regarded as the "easiest" server-side programming environment. This version retains that relative ease of use, yet packs Java (and tight Flash integration) under the hood. An outstanding accomplishment.

Web developers and designers will assign different weights to these programs; no one will use them all equally. Yet there is something important in Studio MX for almost any programmer or producer. It is a milestone release, and eminently worth having—especially since the price will rise substantially in January. Highly recommended.

(Reviewed December 20, 2002)