Adobe Dreamweaver has been the web-designing tool of choice for many professionals for many years now. Its comprehensiveness, efficiency and accessibility have made it a market leader and ensured that the smallest business can compete with the biggest corporation, at least in the online sphere.

The latest version of Dreamweaver is CS4 and, as with all software updates, many consumers are loath to shell out on an upgrade when they feel that there is nothing wrong with their existing version. However, there are definite advantages to be had in investing in the most current form of Dreamweaver and this article will tell you exactly what those enhanced features are.

One of the most crucial aspects of any program is the user interface. This is the key to the software's accessibility and many an unsuccessful program has failed precisely because its UI was convoluted, confusing and unwieldy. Dreamweaver's UIs have always been of a high standard but the interface in CS4 is undoubtedly the most user-friendly yet.

It achieves this mainly by condensing two features into one, namely the main menu and the title bar, which have now become one single bar for ease of navigation. In addition the insert bar has changed from running horizontally to running vertically, allowing for more space onscreen and consequently more room to examine code and make those all important decisions.

A great example of the little extras present in Dreamweaver that mark it out from the competition is the new related files application. When a document is opened Dreamweaver will scan it for any related files and display them to you onscreen. This cross-referencing is a massive bonus, particularly if you are setting up a complex website and one of the major advantages of CS4 over its predecessor.

Picking through coding onscreen can be a real headache, especially when you have a lot of it. Most users prefer to navigate through it visually and Adobe have catered to this requirement by adding the code navigator into CS4. This handy little tool enables you to click on an item in Design View and then edit the coding particular to that item within a separate window. This greatly decreases the amount of time and effort it takes to edit and amend coding within Dreamweaver.

One of the key issues that displeased users in CS3 was the presence of ugly inline Javascript onscreen that clogged up the page and reduced its aesthetic appeal. Adobe's answer is to automatically clean up this unsightly inline script, replacing with clearer, more concise scripting.

Whilst some users may remain sceptical about upgrading to Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 the truth is that its new features have huge practical benefits for serious website designers. The constantly changing world of web design demands the most up to date versions of vital software and you can't get much more vital than Dreamweaver. For this reason it is important to fully acquaint yourself with CS4 Dreamweaver by enrolling on a training course. With the benefit of increased knowledge there is no limit to the wonders you can create online.