There are some who will tell you that Microsoft FrontPage was garbage, that it didn't adhere to Internet standards, needed what was known as FrontPage extensions installed on the hosting server, that web sites created in it all had the 'FrontPage' look.

It was easy to create a web site. Good templates plus the ability to work exclusively in 'design' mode ensured that the creator didn't need to have any working knowledge of HTML Maybe some effects were out of reach, but if the creator wanted a half decent web site with spinning logos, visitor counters, photo galleries, links to MSNBC news and weather etc, FrontPage was the way to go.

FrontPage 2003 was the last incarnation of this venerable web site creation program and I liked it. I was able to create a web site for my business and I didn't think that the results were too bad at all.

However, I am told that FrontPage is passé, that bells and whistles are not cool, not that I used any, that if I want my pages to be seen by any system, I need to use something else. So, that is what I have done.

Enter Microsoft Expression Web, the replacement for FrontPage 2003. Armed with EW as it is affectionately known, a professional web site designer can produce a full web site par excellence, but where does that leave me? I am no professional at this game, and I can't afford to hire anybody who is.

The 'design' mode is still there, as are tool boxes which allow all kinds of changes to be made. All well and good for the professional, but I make what appear to be small changes at my end, and the next time I do a preview all hell has broken loose.

I am taking a course presently re migrating from FP to EW but I am not doing too well, and I have a web site to manage and update. Somehow, I have to get my mind around the workings of EW quite quickly, but the simple truth is that people like me have been left behind.

My web site is up and running for now, but the road ahead is not looking too bright presently. I have two bits of code I want to put into my web site, but have not one clue as to how to do it in EW. I will have to resort to loading into FrontPage to add it. So much for wanting to be W3C compliant.