In Dreamweaver CS4, there’s a new item called Application Bar. It behaves differently in Windows and Mac. This is what it looks like on a Mac.
It’s placed across the top. It contains a workspace switcher, menus (Windows only), and other application controls. On the Mac you can show or hide it using the Window menu. Other Creative Suite CS4 tools also contain an Application Bar now.
Starting from the left, here’s what the icons represent. On the far left, of course, you see the Dreamweaver logo telling you which app you are using. The pull down menu next to that allows layout choices. You can select from Code, Split Code, Design, or Code and Design. The circular gear icon is Extend Dreamweaver. That pull down menu allows access to the Extension Manager or you can Browse for Web Widgets or Browse for more extensions. The icon that looks vaguely like a wireframe site diagram is the Site icon, where you can define a new site or manage sites.
Where you see the word Classic in the Application Bar image at the start of the post, there is a pull down menu to choose a workspace configuration. There are several new choices in CS4. The default workspace is called Designer. In the Designer workspace, the Insert menu is in a panel that takes up a great deal of screen space when compared with the more compact “classic” Insert bar arrangement. The full menu choice for workspace configurations is shown in the image. You can create the optimal workspace for your setup using the “New Workspace” option. Once you define it, you can set it as your default.
Not being a Windows user, I can’t tell you what the Menus option of the Application Bar offers.
It’s unusual for Adobe to create versions that differ significantly from Windows to Mac, so I’d like to know what I’m missing and how important it is. Maybe one of you out there in readerland can supply some information.
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