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johnb41024281
Inspiring
April 20, 2019
Answered

Is Macromedia Dreamweaver 3 Compatible with Windows 7?

  • April 20, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 2534 views

I have Windows 7 on my laptop, and will until December.  I have Dreamweaver 3.0 inbound.  I need to know if I can successfully install it on Windows 7.  How about 10?

Why 3.0?  It was cheep.  I am not an advanced web programmer.  DW 3.0 has more than I need at this stage. My current skills include intermediate HTML and entry Java.  I'd like to experiment with CSS.  PHP and ASP are somewhere a year down the road, maybe more.

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Correct answer johnb41024281

johnb41024281  wrote

Mild disappointment.  Brackets is not WYSIWYG.  The help system is, well, definitely, er, different.  I can tell I'm going to be asking a lot of questions.

I guess I do load DW 3.0 after all.  It's WYSIWYG.  At this point, I don't mind all my effort in HTML4.  I'll learn 5 later.

Unfortunately modern web development for the most part is not WYSIWYG.  And DW 3 as Nancy eluded to is definitely not that either as the code it generates is very old.  If you need something drag and drop for layouts, then I would highly recommend learning CSS for styling and using a CMS like Wordpress with an addon like a WPBakery or Divi page builder on the backend to help you drag and drop elements on the page and just use CSS to style the elements.

If you want to stay completely away from the code altogether and just want to try and visually build pages and trust someone else's code, then you are looking at hosted web page builders like squarespace or wix. 


DW 3.0 arrived.  It installed OK, but the vendor did not supply the software key.  Ahhhh.  Bye, bye $20.  I downloaded it free from OldVersion,com.  It is the 30 day trial version. At least I get 30 days.  Dreamweaver 3.0 will run on Windows 7, but you have to run it as administrator.

BUT WAIT!  Awesome manual!  Totally worth more than the software!

You see, I don't care about latest and greatest code.  I'm not competing with high speed 20 somethings for an IT position in a mid level company.  I'm not selling phony vitamin supplements to health paranoid 40 somethings.  I'm learning for the sake of learning.  I'm 70 and retired.  I weld.  I machine.  I do very crude woodworking, only when it supports my machine hobby.  I USED TO BE Info Tech.  I was Army, then Wal Mart Information Systems.  That was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.  I'm trying to re-learn what has ebbed away since 2003.

Well, Dreamweaver is a bust, but the manual was worth the money, and then some.  I guess, on to try Blue Griffon and Kompozer.

I'll let you know.

1 reply

P
Paul-M
Legend
April 20, 2019

There won't be any guarantess such an old version works. Only way is to try it.

Latest versions of Dreamweaver are compatible with Windows 7:  Dreamweaver system requirements

Paul-M - Community Expert
J
johnb41024281Author
Inspiring
April 20, 2019

(big grin)  Of course!  If I had unlimited money.  Also, the latest and greatest is way overkill for what I want to do.  Too bad Adobe doesn't make a "Lite" version.  Microsoft does that with their development packages, and MS gives away the Lite version as a free download.  For me, buying the latest version is like buying a 40 passenger bus to drive to the mailbox and back, when all I need is a 4 wheeler.

If you are an Adobe employee, put in a suggestion for a Lite version.  Have it do Java, HTML, XML, CSS, and database attachment plus have a decent tutorial book.  Charge, say, $69.95.  This would profoundly hook the new user, like me.  Then, you can have the full version do PHP, ASP, full motion audio and video, security, include Flash, and other popular utilities, and charge what you currently charge.

I'm getting, from other threads, that there is a registry fail, sometimes, when installing an old version.  I don't mind spontaneous color or font changes.  That can be worked out in the code.  A registry fail is a show-stopper.

This package is due in Tuesday.  If it fails, I'll be back in touch.

B
Community Expert
Ben MCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 20, 2019

Adobe does have a lite version of Dreamweaver that is free, it's called Brackets ( Brackets - A modern, open source code editor that understands web design.​ ).  Dreamweaver's code view is based on that, and all brackets themes are able to be used in Dreamweaver.

To put in automotive terms what you are trying to do, you are trying to see if you can use a part from a '69 Chevy and use it inside of a Tesla.  There's been a lot of change since DW 3.0 - you are talking about comparing Win 98/ME/2000/NT 4.0 as the current operating system as opposed to your Windows 7.  You may be able to run a virtual environment, with an older OS to make it work, but if you are running into registry fails there is really no way around that other than virtualization.

If you don't want to get into the code as much, but you want to maintain websites, I would look towards installing a CMS in your instance. This is exactly the use case for why you would want something like a Wordpress with a good theme so that you can maintain a site without having to worry as much about code.  Have you considered going down this path with a CMS?

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