I switched from Rapidweaver to iWeb because of the much better podcast support. And because I publish to .Mac, iWeb is much more reliable. I had a few publishing problems when I published with Rapidweaver.

Reply

So Apple is letting a developer who is a competitor to one of their software products present in one of their retail stores?

That's kinda cool. You probably wouldn't see MS do that. Some others might, but no one comes to mind at the moment.

Reply

Damn, I'm going to be out of town next week. Would have been very keen to see the comparison. I prefer RapidWeaver as I don't have .mac, but would have been good to see the preview of RW 3.5

Reply

RapidWeaver is gonna kick the $#*! out of iWeb!!!

Seriously, if people want an app that offers nice looking templates with no flexibility, then iWeb is the way to go. If people are looking for something that creates clean code and is very customizable, then RapidWeaver is the way to go. IWeb will probably be the best choice for .Mac only people.

Reply

That's cool!

Im lucky enough to be designing one of the new themes for future versions of RapidWeaver, so i'm real glad to hear the RapidWeaver boys are doing so good!

Good luck gents, you'll kill it!

Reply

I use Rapidweaver, and I have tried iWeb. I don't like how iWeb really is focused around .Mac. I do wish Rapidweaver had more documentation and support.

Reply

The absence of basic ftp capability cripples iWeb in a cruel and commercially stupid way. I usually like what Apple does, but voluntarily limiting a software while there's already better options out there is beyond me.

Reply

Rapidweaver is FAR superior and more powerful than iWeb right now. RW is one of the best application available for the mac, I can't say enough about it.

Reply

Rapidweaver is excellent and good value for $40. A previous commentor is correct in saying the documentation is sadly lacking but most of the info you need can be found in the forums. Sometimes getting themes that work on all browsers is difficult too but on the whole it is heading in the right direction.

I also don't see this as a case where rw will kill off iWeb. It won't, despite both being wysiwyg editors I think they are aimed at different users with some overlap between the two. Plus anyone that owns iLife will have iWeb and if iWeb does what they want then they will use it and not spend the extra $40.

Rapidweaver needs more features, more documentation, more themes that work properly on ie6 and more bug fixes but it sure is heading in the right direction.

And competition is good right - say hello to Sandvox!

Reply

i have Rapidweaver and have been a happy user since last year- iWeb just does not cut the mustard IMO.

Reply

The thing is iWeb is not really competing with Rapidweaver... Rapidweaver is far more advanced and complicated than iWeb. I can see my mother or grandmother using iWeb to post family photos and stuff, but I can't see them using Rapidweaver to do the same thing. There's a target group for both.

Reply

For any new users of RW, or anyone thinking of getting it, check out Screen Casts Online, where you'll find two very helpful video tutorials for RW. There's details of a discount on the price of RW as well. Part 1 here and Part 2 here

Reply

Dang! Hyperlinks didn't work.
Part 1: http://donmc.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=37133
Part 2: http://donmc.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=45491

Reply

I like what Apple has tried to do with iWeb and commend them for that.. Unfortunately, it probably won't be of much use to me until it's second go-round( a la Keynote, Pages, etc.)

Rapidweaver is a straight-forward application, and suits my needs just fine. If you want to create some quick pages, blog postings, etc...it doesn't get much easier - and you get many more templates to choose from.

Screencasts Online has a couple great video tutorials on Rapidweaver if you are curious. They also offer a discount code.. *hint*hint*

Reply

For serious web design, I use Dreamweaver. I tried RW and really did not like the workflow, the templates were also quite cold and boxy. I like to start from scratch on most sites and since I'm used to DW I'll stick with that. For a quick little website that I don't mind tossing to my friends and such iWeb does the job. I really think this comes down to what tools work for you and your general workflow. I have to admit that the price for RW is quite nice. BTW I found Sandvox much easier to use than RW (minus the few crashes I had with the beta).

Reply

I haven't taken a look to iweb yet, but... knowing how Rapidweaver works actually (and how rich is of external plug-in's and themes made from its advanced users - look at the official forum) I believe it doesn't have to take care about iWeb presence. Sorry Apple (for this time)!!

Reply