FreeHand answers to Adobe Illustrator arguments

[FFH Mark]

[Snaptophobic]

These comments have been used since time began. They are always from people who have never used anything other than Illustrator, so they think their choice is the right one. They are simply blinkered and don't understand that someone else might need other tools to do their job.

Having used both FreeHand and Illustrator, I know which is the right choice.

[cyclopsdx]

Are you still looking to answer these questions, Mark? Happy to put some thought into them if you are.

[FFH Mark]

Hey Snaptophobic and Eddie, yeah I would like to know how you answered these type of questions in years past. Pick one or two if you don't want to answer all of them. Of course, you both probably know more now than back in 2007 so I would appreciate your arguments against these condescending remarks. Btw, a couple of these remarks came off a forum from just a few months ago!

Thanks!

[Snaptophobic]

Okay, let's take the first one. FreeHand stopped being developed a while before Adobe gobbled up Macromedia, but Illustrator still hasn't really caught up everywhere that FreeHand had been for a while. Where is the "paste inside" command, for example, a feature I use a lot in FreeHand but is a complete pain in the butt to accomplish with Illustrator of any vintage. Even InDesign has a "paste into" command! I can't be doing with all that mucking around with clipping paths and stuff.

Type on a path is another area where Illustrator has only just caught up. Putting type round a circle in FreeHand, for example is a complete doddle, especially if you want the bottom segment to be right-reading. Just hit return and continue typing...

FreeHand's 3D rotation tool is still streets ahead of Illy's dialog-driven thing. How often do I have to wait for a tiny change to be rendered before I can carry on, Adobe? My Mac is no slouch, either.

I was never emotional about my choice. I still swap freely between both programs. For a time, Illustrator had the upper hand (around versions 5 and 6), but by FreeHand 9, I was definitely preferring Macromedia's show. FreeHand is still the program I return to in order to just get something done. There's nothing emotional about it, just the old adage "time is money".

I think that'll do for now. I'm off to calm my nerves and lower my blood pressure.

[FFH Mark]

[cyclopsdx]

[FFH Mark]

Simply put, I am stunned Eddie. These are dynamite comebacks to these comments and I read and reread them again, making notes of specific points on each question. Very well thought out arguments particularly with some of the inane remarks I included that were made by actual Adobe employees. Certainly I had my own retorts in mind as I posted this thread's Topic, but between your answers (and Snaptophobic's) there are reasonings I never considered. I had my own point of view that needed expanding on the whole FreeHand/Adobe dilemma; Eddie, your excellent post certainly did just that!

Concerning this remark:
“The former FH engineering manager tells me, "Macromedia stopped development on FreeHand about a year before the merger was announced." I'm sure people will say, "Oh, that's because they knew the merger was coming," but that's not how companies are legally allowed to act.”
I have to refer to the blog post by a former Fireworks/FreeHand programmer who said this: The most disappointing thing about FreeHand was Macromedia never let it live up to its full potential. After FreeHand fell behind Illustrator in market share, they pretty much ceded it. They had Dreamweaver and Flash, which were now their big money makers, and pretty much lost all interest in the print world. They kept trying to force FreeHand to be Flash, or to at least remake FreeHand for the web, instead of focusing on what FreeHand did best (print), and capturing that market.
That says a lot to me, that FreeHand's loss at Macromedia was a marketing decision and probably a survival reaction from MM's managers. This can be misleading when one looks at it as a marketshare of 14-18% compared to Illustrators' approx. 80%, considering the installed FreeHand user base at the time was 400,000.

Want to see how a similar protest as ours has gone horribly wrong with another Adobe discontinued program? Read the GoLive users who have fallen prey to Adobe F.U.D. using remarks like the ones made above about FreeHand.
Be warned, it's a sickening read!

[alexgab]

Statetment 1.
Viceral AI user opinion. Outstanding that an app last updated on 2003 can manage to do a great job in a much easier way than AI despite the whole task force Adobe puts to work.


Statetment 2.
Agree. Of course they won't revive it in anyway. Adobe didn't buy FreeHand to make it better. They bought it to avoid competition.


Statetment 3.
People doesn't hear what they don't what to hear. AI fans don't hear FF strengths because they all work in AI environments.


Statetment 4.
Is there any prove of this? Any memo?

Statetment 5.
As time passes by, FF is obviously going out of the market. ALL the advertising agencies in Mexico used FF for the REAL work. Time has come with new OS updates and of course no FF updates. Instead we have new CS applications that need to be used in team work to finish a task. So, for this people this is the right way: create a file, then open a second application to make and output. Awesome. That´s exactly the way to loose time.


Statetment 6.
Agree. They are not page layouts apps, but how sweet is to have an app that can manage it aswell!!!. Multiple pages is a blessing…, or is it a terrible mistake that starting from CS4 and 5 AS is a multipage app?


Statetment 7.
Agree with this. They 3 work very well. But, let's be honest. AI users put illustrations (because it seems it is all AI can do), and then put that file into inDesign. FF can do that and way far more.


Statetment 8.
Finally!!, it took 9 years to put some, not all, best features from FF. Congrats!

[FFH Mark]