GoLive, Freehand support

Adobe today said that it would continue to support both its GoLive website creation tool and its Freehand illustration application, but skirted any commitment to future versions of both products. The statement followed a published report yesterday that claimed the company would phase out both products. In late 2005, Adobe completed the acquisition of Macromedia, whose product portfolio contained several products with overlapping focus, including Dreamweaver and Freehand. The report claimed that Dreamweaver would become an integrated part of Creative Suite 3, the first native Intel version of the professional graphics suite expected to be released next year and that Adobe would focus on development of Illustrator rather than its Macromedia counterpart.

While Adobe said that it plans on supporting both programs, it stopped short of a commitment to future development plans, saying instead it would evaluate its customers' needs. The company also did not provide any details on how long it would provide support for the applications.

"Adobe plans to continue to support GoLive and Freehand and develop these products based on our customer's needs," an Adobe representative told Macworld in a statement. The company, however, acknowledged the continuing focus on market-leading Dreamweaver and Illustrator applications.

A second statement by Adobe representatives yesterday said that Freehand would continue to be available as standalone product and that the company plans to release a maintainance update later this year.

"Clearly Dreamweaver and Illustrator are market leading when it comes to Web design/development and vector graphics/illustration," Adobe said, substantiating part of the initial report. "Customers should expect Adobe to concentrate our development efforts around these two products with regards to future innovation and Creative Suite integration."

by MacNN Staff