Back when my PC was still with us, I had Dreamweaver’s WYSIWYG editing program installed. I used it for composing HTML emails, which I would then email via Outlook Express. It was a pretty nifty, really. And then the blue screen of death happened and that was the end of that. Not wanting to shell out a million bucks for a Mac version, I searched far and wide for something free, which I could use just as easily. Let’s just say that wasn’t the easiest task. In fact, I ended up giving up. Until I somehow came across NVU (pronounced N-View).

• NVU is totally open source program created by Linspire, Inc. This means it’s free, and was created with the intention of being free. You are not pirating or doing anything else unsavory if you install this program on your computer.

• NVU is a WYSIWYG editor, just like Dreamweaver is. Those letters stand for what you see is what you get. This means you don’t need to understand HTML in order to create something lovely. You simply drag, drop, type and voila!

• NVU lets you preview the page in your browser. This lets you see how it’s going to look once it’s uploaded. This is a handy too because it saves you from having to upload and remove if it’s not the way you expected it to be.

• NVU has multiple tabs, so you can easily work on more than one thing at a time. This is great if you’re experimenting with several versions and want to compare as you go.

• NVU is available for all operating systems. This is pretty cool, especially since Dreamweaver is only available for Windows and Mac. NVU has a version available for Linux, too.

Note: The NVU webpage says there isn’t a version for Intel Macs – but I can tell you, the current version available for download works just fine on Intel Macs!

I freely admit I'm not a professional, and I can't really compare NVU to Dreamweaver because I don't know enough about about either one. What I can tell you, is that I'm no techhie, and I find NVU to be quite easy to use and the results were as good as I got with Dreamweaver. If you experience problems with it they have several methods of getting support. You can use their forums, chat rooms or email them directly. And, of course, if you’re a developer who thinks they can improve it, they invite you to contact them. So there you have it. HTML editors do not have to cost a fortune! Try NVU and spend your hard earned cash on something else!

xx Isabella