first impressions of FrameMaker 8

[Jacob Schäffer]

Well,

As long as Framemaker 8.0 cannot create a decent PDF without turning on the Tagged PDF option I'd withhold my horses.

Of course, the new Unicode support is very attractive, and really should have been there for ages now, but as long as book cannot be turned into PDF format 'just like that' because of lazy coding by an Adobe programmer -- and lack of internal testing by Adobe Quality Assurance officers -- I don't find the 8.0 upgrade worth two cents. However, when this generic PDF creation problem is fixed, I *really* have to credit Adobe for the FM 8.0 release.

It's said, that FM 8.0 offer only "relatively few real innovations". As a programmer I have to enlighten users, that full Unicode support is a *huge* task that involves enormous ressources, especially when parts of the code base originally was designed for 16-bit environments.

An application like Framemaker does not have much competition. However, it's alive, and many depend on it. I don't think a two year upgrade-cycle is unfair. If you don't agree, please look at 3B2 or XML Publisher and ask them to the bones what their upgrade cycle is! I don't think a switch can save anything, especially if you count in the adverse effects of an unpredictable learning curve.

For a specialized product like Framemaker I personally would prefer annual maintenance payments over standard 2-year upgrade policies, because it would save *employed* users the discussions with thrifty bosses when to upgrade.

However, I find it completely unacceptable that Adobe release a product that is NOT consistently tested for such an important thing as PDF creation of book files. THAT is terrifying and should NEVER happen again!

All the best
Jacob Schäffer
Grafikhuset