Macromedia's Studio MX consists of the latest "MX" versions of the company's Dreamweaver web authoring and development package, Fireworks web graphics editor and Flash authoring program, not to mention a copy of the FreeHand 10 illustration package and a developer version of the ColdFusion MX server software. It provides just about everything you need to create anything from simple one-page websites to huge, database-driven dynamic portals, in one tightly-integrated bundle.

We won't go into any detail regarding FreeHand, as version 10 has been available for some time now, nor will we explore ColdFusion MX, the latest version of Macromedia's server-side scripting technology, other than to say that the developer version provided in Studio MX is designed for testing and development purposes only. If you want to deploy ColdFusion on a commercial server you'll need a full, and very expensive, licence. Instead, we'll dive straight in to take a look at the three components of the suite that are new - Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX and Flash MX.

Starting with Dreamweaver MX, if you've ever created web sites in a professional capacity, there's a good chance that you'll have used one version or another of Dreamweaver to do so. It is one of the most respected, powerful and flexible editors available. You may well have cursed its ridiculous multi-paned user interface, however, or wished you'd purchased the UltraDev version that makes the development of dynamic sites with database integration a breeze. If so, then Dreamweaver MX will be a must-have purchase, as not only does it offer a new and much more logical user interface, but it also provides all the application development tools found in Dreamveaver UltraDev and more. In fact Dreamweaver MX offers better support for server-side scripting and database connectivity than the UltraDev version ever did, for example supporting PHP and ASP.NET right out of the box as well as ASP and ColdFusion. There is even built-in support for ePDQ, the web interface to Barclays Merchant Services credit card processing system.

On top of all this, there are a number of other enhancements in the new MX version, not least of which is much better handling of style sheets, better template functionality and improved support for editing page code by hand.

Fireworks MX has also undergone a user-interface transformation, matching that of Dreamweaver and all the other new MX applications. At first glance not that much appears to have been added in terms of features, though. Indeed, other than more sophisticated gradient fill options, some long-overdue bitmap editing additions and, again long-overdue, the ability to edit text on the page rather than through a dialog box, nothing much would seem to have changed. But there's a whole host of other tweaks hidden away if you know where to look. You can, for example, create a .PNG file from an HTML page containing tables, edit it, then save the results as HTML or as a .PNG for later use. There's also a data-driven graphics Wizard, which allows you to assign variables to elements within a file, such as images, text and slices, and automatically create multiple, differing copies based on data stored in an XML or comma-delimited file.

Fireworks MX's button and navigation bar creation facility has also been improved. Indeed, the ease with which you can now create, edit and manage buttons and even complete navigation bars, complete with all the Java required for rollovers, pop-up menus and image swaps, sets Fireworks MX apart from all other web graphic editors. Having said that, Fireworks, even with the enhancements found in the MX versions, is still no substitute for Adobe's Photoshop when it comes to manipulating and enhancing photographic images.

Moving on to Flash MX, in terms of usefulness in web sites, Flash technology has no peer. Through the use of vector objects and a powerful scripting system, it allows you to add sophisticated animated graphical elements to a web page - which can be dynamic and interactive if desired - without adding much to the file size. In fact, a simple animated banner created in Flash would normally be just a fraction of the size of the same banner created as an animated GIF. What's more, creating Flash objects - at least simple, non interactive ones - is simplicity itself with Flash MX once you get to grips with some initial concepts. Creating more sophisticated objects, especially those that involve interaction with the user, takes much more time and patience and may require some script programming, but with the tools and facilities provided by the application the whole process is relatively painless.

Disappointingly, the majority of users will find almost nothing in the way of really useful new features in the Flash MX version compared to Flash 5. Yes, there is the new and enhanced user interface which matches the look and feel of the MX versions of DreamWeaver and Fireworks, plus the ability to author vertical text, and better colour management and gradient editing facilities. But we would have liked to have seen much more in the way of standard animation options and effects, especially for text. As it stands, unless you are willing to invest a great deal of time and effort writing scripts, or spend money on a third party application to do it for you, or find a free script to download, you can do little other than animate the size, position, colour, transparency and rotation of blocks of text using the standard tools the program provides.

More advanced users of Flash will find a bit more to cheer about, though. For example, there is now an option for importing just about every useful type of video file into a Flash movie, and control of the positioning of objects is now easily possible down to pixel level. Flash MX also adds the ability to create shared object libraries, whose assets can be used in multiple Flash movies, and a number of enhancements and new features have been added to make the process of creating complete Web applications easier and more flexible than ever before.

As you may have gathered from our comments on the individual applications, there isn't really all that much new in terms of features or facilities in any of the MX programs in comparison with their previous incarnations. What's more, some Extensions or other components (special additions or objects you can create yourself or download from various sources, and which add extra features or functionality to Fireworks, Flash or Dreamweaver) designed for previous versions of these programs may not function in the MX versions, so if you use any you'd be wise to check compatibility before upgrading. But when you add the new-style user interface into the equation, which really does make it easier to work with these programs, the balance does tip in favour of upgrading - but only just.

In contrast, if you don't currently use a professional-grade web page, web graphics or Flash editor, then you would be insane not to put Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX or Flash MX right at the top of your shopping list. They are truly excellent products.

And if you want everything necessary to create professional web sites in one bundle - other than time, skill and experience of course - then the Studio MX package offers exceptional value for money.