Expression Web's focus on ASP.NET as a platform, however, contrasts with its weakness in supporting other Web development techniques. Microsoft's editor, for instance, doesn't play well with the PHP language or JSP (JavaServer Pages), two technologies that arguably enjoy usage on the Internet that's as broad as ASP.NET's penetration.

		Microsoft Expression Web Gives Dreamweaver A Run For Its Money
		Out With FrontPage, In With      Expression Web  Image Gallery

As with Dreamweaver's semi-capability regarding Visual Studio code, it's entirely possible for you to open a PHP script in Expression Web and hand-edit it. The PHP code, however, wouldn't benefit from any of Expression Web's Intellisense features, which colorize the different functions of a program and auto-complete code statements for the developer.

Another Dreamweaver capability that Expression Web lacks is any preview functionality for "include" files. Many Web sites control the look of thousands of individual pages by linking them to a single include file that contains common styles.

It would be inconceivable for sites that heavily rely on include files to turn back the clock and try to specify every style on every page it applies to. Dreamweaver, to its credit, previews Web pages with full awareness of any include files they link to. Expression Web does not.

Dreamweaver also operates on a Mac nearly identically to its Windows sibling. This fact has endeared it to Web designers who switch between the two environments as easily as night turns into day. Expression Web, like many Microsoft programs, doesn't have a Mac version and isn't ever likely to.

Developers who require support for platforms other than Microsoft Windows — and language regimes other than ASP.NET — will find themselves frustrated with Expression Web.