With new templates and smart tools ("bots") to help create a wide range of intranet and Internet pages, version 2002 is even simpler and faster to use than its predecessors. Users can draw with PowerPoint tools, drag and drop live content, and create photo galleries with a few mouse clicks. Publishing is incredibly easy. Beginners will love the wizards, and will find Web authoring much easier than expected.

Why do so many people have problems with FrontPage? The main complaint is that the output, which tends to be flabby and difficult to parse, can't be edited by the user and is difficult to run on non-Microsoft servers. This is a problem for those who've gone beyond using wizards and templates to create their pages, but many other users are content with the results. The automatic direction to Microsoft-related services is also somewhat troubling--it would be nice, if unrealistic, for users to have easier access to the wide range of servers and e-commerce providers available.

Still, for Webbies with fairly simple needs and no desire to spend months learning the ins and outs of HTML and XML, FrontPage 2002 is most likely the way to go. --Rob Lightner

Amazon.com Product Description
Microsoft FrontPage 2002 is a Web site creation-and-management solution that gives you the tools you need to create and control professional-quality Web sites. FrontPage version 2002 has been designed so you can create exactly the site you want. You can use new PowerPoint-like drawing tools and automatic web content to make your Web site more exciting and dynamic. If you're familiar with HTML editing, you can also use FrontPage to save time with the new paste options smart tag, a new streamlined user interface, and new optional HTML and XML reformatting. You can also manage your Internet or intranet Web site more effectively by using the new usage-analysis tools, top 10 lists, and enhanced reporting capabilities. And you can use the new technology in the SharePoint Team Services team Web-site solution to create customized team Web sites to store, find, and communicate information.

I have extensive experience in graphic design but have neither the time nor interest to learn HTML. With Frontpage, I not only got two now popular sites running but I'm getting freelance offers to do small business sites for other people.

Granted, this is not a software for professionals. As a graphic designer, you couldn't make me use Microsoft Publisher at gunpoint. I'd use professional softwares such as Quark or Pagemaker. So I understand the "disgust" for this product by hard core designers. But I say again, it's not for them. They'd be happier if they stop trying to use it. It's for the rest of us, the average folks in the world. I love it. It let's me do quickly and easily what I do best: page layout and design without the mess of HTML.


Huge Improvement Over 2000   November 28, 2002
carol irvin (United States)
35 out of 35 found this review helpful

I must say that Front Page 2002 is a dream program compared to the 2000 version. I had some very weird things happen with 2000 such as its not publishing to the web on the index page unless I also saved it in Notepad. All the bugs are gone in 2002 plus it is much easier to use. I use it for everything, rarely using Word, Office and so forth. My two major tools for editing and writing are Front Page and super Notepad instead. I am going to learn Dreamweaver next term at the college where I teach because I am finally ready to move on and learn more about professional web design. Besides, I can now read and write html so I am not as utterly dependent on Front Page as I once was. If you don't know any html coding, the basis of all web pages, Front Page is the program for you. I also do all my image editing in Photoshop so don't even need that function in Front Page. Dreamweaver is the industry standard instead of Front Page yet Front Page is the ordinary user's program of choice. The reason for this is that you can know very little about computers and still make a website with Front Page. It even made publishing websites idiot proof by using Front Page Server extensions with many web host providers. Thus, one can totally skip learning ftp protocol by using Front Page server extensions instead. If someone wants to go professionally into web page design, this is not the product, Dreamweaver is. People who already are professionals in the computer industry or in web design tell me they don't like Front Page. I think the reason is that since they don't need (or want) Front Page to do their work for them, they desire a program which gives them a much freer hand. For the average computer user though, that is all pie in the sky, beyond their reach, and Front Page 2002 will more than do the job for them.


Frontpage is the best there is!   April 20, 2001
Doug Fraser (Austin, TX United States)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

I first started using FrontPage with the 98 version and then upgraded to 2000 not to long after that. So far all the versions of FrontPage I have used have been great. Macromedia's Dreamweaver is good for people who are more experienced but is also a lot more expensive. I like Dreamweaver but FrontPage is a much better buy than any version of Dreamweaver or any other web page designing programs I have used. If you are a beginner-intermediate and don't want to spend too much but still want a good quality program this is for you.


Frontpage Adds New Features   May 14, 2001
Jeff Krysiak (De Pere, WI United States)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I've been trying out the Frontpage 2002 beta for a month. I was impressed with some new image features. Making it easier to post images, and work with the resolution all in the Frontpage program itself, saves time. Newer wizards with DAP (data access pages) allow you to make useful internet, or intranet sites. Granted Dreamweaver is a great program, Microsoft has come out with a worthwhile upgrade, or new investment.


The greatest piece of software on the planet.   October 29, 2002
Gift Card Customer (Melbourne, FL United States)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

Easy to learn, incredibly intuitive, and perfect for the DIY webmaster. Granted, if you don't know any HTML at all, your pages will look very generic. But once you do a little homework and figure out how to make tables to organize your layout, you will probably never need anything else to make killer websites! I created djresource.com, chuckfresh.com, tommieandjohnnie.com, brevardmarketing.com and several others with nothing more than FrontPage, and these sites rival anything you can produce with any other expensive or free software package. If your time is better spent being creative and earning a comfortable living rather than writing senseless complex HTML code that no one could care less about, get your hands on this software. I'd give it six stars if I could!