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  • Fireworks CS3 to replace ImageReady!

    Fireworks CS3

    If AppleInsider.com’s report is correct, the forthcoming version of Fireworks will replace ImageReady in the upcoming Creative Suite 3 from Adobe.

    As part of its testing for Fireworks CS3, internally dubbed “Agni” after the Vedic god of fire, Adobe is putting to work some of the first fruits of its buyout of Macromedia in 2005. The visual editing firm has thoroughly revamped Fireworks to join its features closely with those of Photoshop CS3, people familiar with the project say, beginning with the addition of a simple tool for creating photo slideshows.

    Key to many of the other expected changes is the addition of hierarchical layer support, those same people say. Where the previous version of Fireworks assumed only basic layering and would destroy any hierarchy created in a Photoshop image, the new edition will add sub-layers for filters and other special effects that will follow their parent layer around as it moves.

    Read More…

    I can’t say I’ve messed with Fireworks much, but I’m glad to see ImageReady on its way out.

  • Font Management for Windows Made Easier

    Extensis Suitcase for WindowsA new version of Extensis Suitcase for Windows was just announced. It’ll work with Illustrator CS2, InDesign CS2, Quark 7, etc. This release of Suitcase for Windows adds a number of new font auto-activation plug-ins, a font vault, as well as compatibility with the next operating system, Microsoft Vista.It’s been quite some time since the software’s been updated… This news couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I was just complaining about the lack of updates this morning…read more | digg story

  • Success

    Microsoft Zune

    I’ve had a few people mention to me that they were considering a Zune. I won’t lie: I’m an Apple fanboy and I have never understood why someone would want one until today.

    The Zune is to the iPod as the Mac is to a PC. Make sense? I’ll try to explain…

    For years, Macs have played second fiddle to PC. Macs account for anywhere from 3-5% of the market (depending on who you talk to). They’re considered premium machines… and up until recently, they have been more expensive than PCs.

    The iPod has had success in dominating their market for five years now. Figures show the iPod having a 65-70% share of the MP3 player market… They’re hugely successful now, and everyone and their mother has one. That’s part of the problem. What has made the iPod successful – their desirability – will be what sustains a counter-market that won’t get one because “all the cool kids have one”.

    That’s where the Zune could succeed. I spoke with two non-technical people today and one owned a Zune and the other was seriously considering getting one. Why? “Because everyone has an iPod these days and I don’t want to be like other people.” When I heard that, it caught me a little off guard. I was thinking to myself, that the iPod has a great interface, works seamlessly with iTunes, etc… These people don’t know what they’re missing out on… But it’s not about any of that stuff. Sometimes people care about price. Sometimes people care about features, ease of use, etc. But sometimes, people just care that it’s different.

    Let’s face it, the iPod has become something the masses want…and lot’s of people own them. Heck, I used to own five up until last week.

    The desire to want something different is what drives the accessories market, I suppose, and that’s a fact we can’t lose sight of.

    iPod Killer it’s not. It’s not revolutionary enough to take the iPod’s place in the market, but if it could be positioned as the anti-Ipod, it might do alright. As for me? I’ll stick to my iPod video, until there’s a compelling enough reason for me to make the switch.

  • Font Management

    Usually you hear people complaining that certain applications are available only on the PC side, and Mac users get screwed. In this case, the opposite is true. I’ve been a long-time user of products from Extensis, and I’ve used them on both Windows and OS X.I’ve been using Extensis Suitcase 9.2.2 for Windows for well over a year now. Prior to that I used Adobe Type Manager (ATM) Deluxe. I opted to go with Extensis’ offering because ATM Deluxe was no longer being supported by Adobe.Here’s the problem, though… Extensis Suitcase for Windows has been stuck at version 9.2.2 for at least a year, if not longer. In that time, Extensis has released the new Suitcase Fusion for OS X, which is lightyears ahead of the PC version. Where’s the love, Extensis? Maybe font management isn’t high up there for a lot of designers on the PC side, but your solution could be a lot better!A follow-up to this post can be found here: Font Management for Windows Made Easier 

  • Twitterific

    Twitterific

    Use Twitter and own a Mac? Twitterific from the IconFactory is just what the doctor ordered!

    Twitterrific is a fun little application that lets you both read and publish posts or “tweets” to the Twitter community website. The application’s user interface is clean, concise and designed to take up a minimum of real estate on your Mac’s desktop.

    Now if only someone would port this over to the PC-side of life…

  • Pandora’s Box

    In the beginning there was Text, and it was good.

    I’m still in awe about how much residual traffic I’ve gotten as a result of the conversation going on about how Microsoft Breaks HTML Email Rendering in Outlook 2007. The story, in various forms, has appeared on a number of sites. If you were to trust the comments on Digg, most people (it seems) would prefer that we revert back to a time where email is text-only. I don’t disagree that HTML emails can be evil, but there’s an inherent problem in wishing us back to the Stone Ages of Email: People like HTML email.

    Yes, HTML email is abused by spammers. Yes, Incredimail sucks and so does “email stationary” in Outlook and the like… but if HTML email didn’t work (for spam or even legitimate correspondence), and if people didn’t want their messages to look *gag* “pretty”, there wouldn’t be a market for it.

    HTML Email is here to stay, and that is why I am so irritated over the fact that Microsoft has taken to course action they have with Outlook 2007. Why break something that worked fine in older versions? Why take away something clients have come to expect?

    Software should be improved from version to version. The choice to use the Word rendering engine in Outlook 2007 was probably predicated by a desire to avoid further anti-trust lawsuits… but that’s unexectable.

  • Google Talk + AOL Instant Messenger Integration

    Google Talk + AOL Instant Messenger Integration – A brief update on the status of gTalk/AOL interoperability. Google: “We are working actively on integrating AIM access in Google Talk.”

  • WebKit Adds Basic Support for CSS3 Multi-Columns

    WebKit Adds Basic Support for CSS3 Multi-Columns

  • Open Letter to Microsoft

    Dear Microsoft,

    Last year, you introduced Windows Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) upon the world. Designers everywhere celebrated the fact that you had finally stepped up to the standards plate. IE7 isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than what we had to work with.

    Pretty soon, Outlook 2007 will be moved out of beta. One might assume that it, like it’s predecessors, would use IE for rendering HTML emails. (I know that I had.) But you know what? It doesn’t. It uses Word 2007 instead.

    I know, I know. There will be lots of people out there that say HTML emails suck, and they’d be right. It’s probably safe to say that most spam email is of the HTML variety. But that shouldn’t be a problem for you, Microsoft, because IE7 should take care of any security issues that might arise, right?

    HTML emails are a fact of life. Introducing another rendering engine to the mix makes life difficult for businesses like the one I work for. Email marketing is not our primary focus, but a lot of our customers want to stay in touch with their customers via email newsletters.

    I shouldn’t have to worry about basic CSS stuff being supported in Outlook – stuff like background images, floats, stylized unordered lists, positioning, etc. should just work – but now I do.

    Word 2007 is a word processor. Despite the fact that HTML can be generated from documents created within it, doesn’t make it a logical choice for rendering HTML – that is what Internet Explorer is for. Furthermore, this decision puts my confidence in IE7 in serious jeopardy: If you won’t even use it, why should I or anyone else for that matter?

    It’s probably too late, but I hope you’ll reconsider this decision.

  • iNeedMore

    Nothing kills productivity like a Keynote. Seriously.

    Apple finally delivered an iPhone. Well, delivered is a bit of a stretch considering it won’t be until June 2007 before it will start hitting the shelves in Apple and Cingular stores. While I am really excited about the iPhone, and glad it’s finally here, I can’t help but think: “Where’s the rest of the announcements, Steve?” I know, I’m coming off as ungrateful. I mean, Steve invented the friggin iPod and just made the friggin iPhone. But really, is that it?

    The Apple TV update was nice. I might have to buy one once it hits rev.2 and I get around to upgrading my home network to 802.11n. Apple will definitely have a place in my living room. I’ve already started to amass quite a collection of digital media that I’ve purchased off of iTunes, and it will be nice to be able to enjoy that content on my living room television.

    The presentation on the iPhone was nice as well. It was very thorough. I mean, incredibly friggin’ thorough. Thorough to the point where it seemed like they had to stretch it out as long as possible in order to fill the two hour time slot alotted for the Keynote. I waited in anticipation for the “One More Thing…” The fact that the company formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc. is now Apple, Inc. wasn’t really much of a surprise. The fact that there were no additional announcements seemed more than a little odd to me.

    People expected and, dare I say, demanded an Apple Phone. No amount of RDF would save Steve’s arse if he failed to deliver one. People expected an update on iTV, now known as Apple TV. Even with both of these great announcements, people still expected a lot more.