Kent Pribbernow
08-09-2005, 04:19 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/Macromedia+drops+illustration+tool/2100-1012_3-5824744.html?tag=nefd.top' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/Macromedia+drops+illustration+tool/2100-1012_3-5824744.html?tag=nefd.top</a><br /><br /></div><i>"FreeHand, Macromedia's popular illustration tool, has been omitted from the company's upcoming developer suite, dubbed Studio 8. Macromedia executives cited "extensive research with our customers" as the reason behind the decision, and not its impending acquisition by Adobe Systems--which current sells a competing product called Illustrator. Adobe announced in April that it would buy Macromedia for $3.4 billion."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/freehand.jpg" /><br /><br />This is a sad day for Freehand users...all five of them. :wink: Seriously this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Adobe Illustrator has long been the market leader in the vector illustration segment, leaving Macromedia Freehand in the dust. Still, it breaks my heart to see another legendary app get chopped. I'm a Fireworks user myself, and my hands sweat at the prospect of Adobe killing that critical (for me) software package as well.