Macromedia Realeases Software Subscription Service

The article I chose was from February of 2003. It was when Macromedia announced that there software subscription service would give developers access to a broad range of Macromedia products for development and testing purposes, including licenses for both client-side and server-side tools, exclusive access to online tutorials and technical resources, extensions, utilities, and early access to product updates. There called DevNet Subscriptions.

The service operates similar to existing developer subscription services from other vendors, such as Microsoft's MSDN subscription program and IBM's Developer Toolbox. Macromedia's DevNet offers two subscription levels: Professional and Essentials.

The Professional subscription includes full, single user-license versions of all products in Macromedia's Studio MX Suite (Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks, and Freehand) as well as the Contribute content management product. It also includes development-only license versions for Macromedia's server products: ColdFusion, JRun, Flash Remoting, and the Flash Communication Server.

The Essentials subscription includes only the DRKs (one per quarter) at a cost of $299 per year, per developer. The Essential subscription does not include any software licenses. To support the new DevNet initiative, Macromedia tapped into its online developer resource center, called DesDev. DesDev changed its name to match that of DevNet and became a portal that supports DevNet subscribers. Hale said that some resources and discussion groups would remain freely available to the public while others would be cordoned off for DevNet subscribers.

Finally, the company also announced the official MX version of Freehand. Freehand is one of the last products, and the last product in the Studio MX Suite, to be upgraded to the MX designation. According to a company press release, enhancements to Freehand in the MX version include user interface changes, new productivity tools and panels, better integration with Flash MX, and better performance on Mac OS X.

So basically what it comes down to is that Macromedia was having there products tested by developers to spread there ideas of the way they do things. It also gave developers a chance to experience the power of these programs without having to purchase the whole package.