What do you get in Fusion XII that you don't get in essentials?

[Pepperpotty]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and just wanted to pick your brains.

A friend of mine has suggested that I buy Netobjects as I have 2 websites that I need to construct.

Currently I'm using a combination of shockingly bad site builders that come with my web host and my basic knowledge of HTML.

Before committing to buy Netobjects I thought I'd download the free Essentials to see if I can get on with it.

I can't say that I'm all that impressed and find the whole interface not incredibly user friendly.

I've looked on this forum and also on the Netobjects website and I can't see anywhere that says what you get with Fusion XII that you don't get with essentials.

Is it basically the same with a few extra features or is it completely different?

Thanks in advance,

Emma

[franko]

It's hugely different. I've never used Essentials but AFAIK it's version 7 repackaged. This means that the current Fusion is 5 versions ahead. Frankly, there's very little I can't do in v12. I've tried all the rest and although there are a couple of applications that complement Fusion nicely I've yet to find a better web design tool and html generator.

[chuckj]

Essentials is Fusion 9 with an updated online view.

[mia]

I don't want to sound like a know it all but Essentials is identical with version NOF 7,5.
You can even exchange templates between the two versions.
But it' s ancient anyway.....

[Pepperpotty]

So what you're all saying is that the free Essentials is basically just an older version then? It sounds like it probably is worth parting with some money for the Fusion XII, I was just concerned that I would end up with something pretty much the same as the Essentials.

Thanks,

Emma

[foxkitty]

I started with Essentials this time around and there were two big things I noticed when I went to XII: first, Essentials wouldn't run on Windows 7, so if you have a newer OS or are planning to go to one you would need to upgrade anyway, and second, the choices for styles and templates is much larger. These may sound like silly things, but to a novice, they jumped right out.
Also, if you decide to go to XII, keep the serial number you're using for Essentials and just buy the upgrade package - you don't have to pay the full price! The download version of XII will accept the serial number from Essentials as your prior version, and you save almost half the price that way. It's also perfectly legit - NetObjects support recommended that to me when I took the plunge and spent money.
Whatever you decide, good luck with your sites!

[Zzyvko]

I had used an early version of NOF when the company was owned (majority, anyway) by IBM at a DoD agency. There were three of use using it and we were all very happy with it though we had greeat support from IBM. Microsoft killed FrontPage (which I used for several years after I retired) so I downloaded 'Essentials'. I was very impressed and it DOES run under Windows 7/64 although it is a 32 bit program. (It installs automaticly in the folder for 32 bit programs.) You can move Fusion's 'working area' to another monitor but the tool boxes will not move completely from the primary monitor. (They are still very usable.) The big difference for most tasks is that 12 is more grandiose, significantly slower and the user infterface is not as straight forward. I bought 12, then installed the update (a very normal and usually recommended thing to do). The update slowed NOF so that it is now slower than grass growing in Nebraska in January. We did some experimenting and determined that the main cause of the slower speed is the way they are pushing out the graphics. We installed version 12 with the update on my grandson's gaming computer (super fast graphics board) and NOF ran beautifully. So I guess you need a gaming computer with a high-speed graphics board to use NOF conveniently. Should you buy version 12? Depends on how fancy you want your website to be. I now see no reason to do so but as I have invested already I will continue to use it but on my grandson's gaming computer (I bought him a new one which he really wanted anyway). Good luck!

[RayC]

IMO, the AJAX stuff that added Multi-Layout Regions (Tab Tops, Accordions, etc.) was huge. I use this all the time. This actually came in v.11, but obviously continues in v.12.

v.12 would seem to be mostly "under-the-hood" type stuff, but allows advanced users to alter output methods, doctypes, etc. For example, you can now generate a site made entirely of <DIV>'s rather than the nested tables of yore. Also Win-7 is better supported, and some image bugaboos have been fixed, such as the strangeness when working with .PNG image files.

Whether any of these things are important to you, only you can decide.