| Microsoft Expression Web | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Expression Web 4 running onWindows 8 | |
| Developer | Microsoft |
| Initial release | December 4, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-12-04) |
| Final release | 4 (4.0.1460.0) / December 20, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-12-20) |
| Operating system | Windows XP SP3,Windows Vista,Windows 7,Windows 8[1] |
| Platform | IA-32;[1]DirectX,.NET Framework 4.0,Silverlight v4[1] |
| Available in | English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish[2] |
| Type | HTML editor |
| License | Freeware |
Microsoft Expression Web is a discontinuedHTML editor and generalweb design software product byMicrosoft. It was discontinued on December 20, 2012, and subsequently made available free of charge from Microsoft. It was a component of the also discontinuedExpression Studio.
Expression Web can design and develop web pages usingHTML5,CSS 3,ASP.NET,PHP,JavaScript,XML+XSLT andXHTML. Expression Web 4 requires.NET Framework 4.0 andSilverlight 4.0 to install and run.[1] Expression Web uses its own standards-based rendering engine which is different from Internet Explorer'sTrident engine.[3]
| Developer | Major version | Release date | Minor updates | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 1.0(12.0.4518.1014) | December 2006 | SP1(12.0.6211.1000) | December 2007 | Included in Microsoft Expression Studio |
| 2.0(12.0.4518.1084) | May 2008 | Update(12.0.6329.5000) | December 2008 | Included in Microsoft Expression Studio 2 | |
| 3.0(3.0.1762.0) | July 2009 | SP1(3.0.3813.0) | November 2009 | Included in Microsoft Expression Studio 3 | |
| SP2(3.0.3816.0) | April 2010 | ||||
| SP3 | October 2011 | ||||
| 4.0(4.0.1165.0) | July 2010 | SP1(4.0.1241.0) | March 2011 | Included in Microsoft Expression Studio 4 | |
| SP2(4.0.1303.0) | July 2011 | ||||
| SP2a(4.0.1460.0) | December 2012 |
On May 14, 2006, Microsoft released the first Community Technology Preview (CTP) version of Expression Web, code-namedQuartz. On September 5, 2006, Microsoft released Beta 1. Beta 1 removed most of theFrontPage-proprietary (non-standard) features such as bots (use ofFPSE features for server-side scripting), parts, functions, themes, automatic generation of navigation buttons, FrontPage forms, navigation pane to build a web site's hierarchy, and other non-standard features available in CTP 1. TheRelease To Manufacturing version was made available on December 4, 2006. The first and onlyservice pack was published in December 2007.[4] Expression Web does not have the form validation controls for HTML fields like FrontPage, but supports validator controls for ASP.NET.[5]
Microsoft Expression Web 2 was released in 2008.[6] Expression Web 2 offers native support forPHP and Silverlight. No service packs were released for version 2, but in December 2008 it received an update that fixed a problem that prevented macros from running on Windows Vista-based client computers.
Microsoft Expression Web 3 was released in 2009.[7] Until version 2, Expression Web was the only application in the Expression Studio suite based onMicrosoft Office code and dependencies.[8] With version 3, Expression Web was rewritten inWindows Presentation Foundation, in line with the rest of the Expression Suite, without Microsoft Office dependencies. A result of this was features like customizable toolbars and menus, standard Windows color scheme, spell check, DLL addins, file menu export feature, drag-and-drop between remote sites, comparing sites by timestamp, automatic language tagging, basic macro support were removed in this version.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Other features like Undo do not work reliably.[15][16] Version 3 introduced Expression Web 3 SuperPreview tool for comparing and rendering webpage in various browsers. Also noted was the lack of support for root relative links, links that start with a "/" to refer to the root of a web server. This feature was added with Expression Web 3 Service Pack 1, released in November 2009.[17] Service Pack 2 for Expression Web 3 was released in April 2010.[18] Service Pack 3 for Expression Web 3 was released in October 2011 and includes general product, stability, performance, and security fixes.[19]
Microsoft Expression Web 4 was released on June 7, 2010.[20] It added the option of HTML add-ins, and access to a web-based SuperPreview functionality, for testing pages on browsers that cannot be installed on the user's system (such asMac OS X orLinux browsers). Microsoft Expression Web 4 also provides an SEO Checker which analyzes produced web site against the best practices for getting the highest possible search-engine rankings.[21] Version 4 does not bring back all the features removed in Version 3.[22] Expression Web 4 Service Pack 1 was released in March 2011 and added support for IntelliSense for the HTML5 and CSS3 draft specifications in the Code editor, HTML5 and CSS3 support in the CSS Properties palette, selected CSS3 properties in the Style dialogs, semantic HTML5 tags in Design View and new PHP 5.3 functions.[23][24] Expression Web 4 SP2 was released in July 2011, and fixed a number of issues and introduced new features such asjQueryIntelliSense support, a panel for managing snippets, Interactive Snapshot Panel, comment/uncomment functionality in Code View, and workspace and toolbar customization.[25] Expression Web 4 SP2a, an hotfix released in October 2011, fixes an issue caused by corruption in the license store.[26]
As of December, 2012, Microsoft has announced that Expression Studio will no longer be a stand-alone product.[27]Expression Blend is being integrated intoVisual Studio, while Expression Web andExpression Design will now be free products. Technical support is available for customers who purchased Expression Web or Expression Design following their published support lifetime guides, while no support will be offered to free downloaders. No new versions of Expression Web or Design are planned.[28]
Microsoft Expression Web received positive reviews.PC Pro awarded Expression Web 2 five stars out of six. "It largely succeeded by concentrating on providing standards-compliant support for the web's core markup languages, (X)HTML and CSS," Tom Arah concluded.[29]
PC Magazine also rated Expression Web 2 with 4 stars out of 5 and labeled it as a more cost-effective option compared to the main competitor,Adobe Dreamweaver. "Even if money is no object, Expression Web 2 might be your better choice," editorEdward Mendelson wrote.[30] However,PC Magazine criticized a lack of "Secure FTP in its Web-publishing functions" and "the ability to create browser-based (as opposed to server-based) scripting of dynamic pages that works in all browsers, including Safari". On the other hand,PC Magazine noted that "most designers won't care about their absence".[30] However, Microsoft Expression 3 later added support forSSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) (otherwise known asSecure FTP) as well asFTP over SSL (FTPS).[31]
Expression Web 4, like the previous versions, also received positive reviews[32] withPC Magazine calling it an "efficient website editor with full support for current standards," and praising its "clear interface" and "flexible preview functions."[33]
SharePoint Designer doesn't use Trident. SharePoint Designer, Expression Web, and the next version of Visual Studio's Visual Web Designer (code name Orcas) all use the same standards-based web design component. This component was developed jointly by the three product teams for high fidelity rendering of web standards like CSS, XHTML, as well as ASP.net.
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