Adobe dumbs down website building with Muse

Adobe has expanded its design software collection with the introduction of Muse, which is basically InDesign for website creation.

The concept of the program itself is quite simple, and it is meant to be so. Muse enables graphic designers to create and build websites quickly and easily without confining templates or any kind of code input. The pages will still be written behind the scenes in HTML5 and CSS3.

Some of the available tools and features in the current version include:

• "Easy-to-use" site maps and master page
• Drag-and-drop customizable widgets (i.e. navigation menus)
• Ability to embed HTML snippets from YouTube, Facebook and other sources
• Customizable interactive elements (i.e. slideshows, remote rollovers, etc.)

Users can also create Adobe-hosted trial sites for testing purposes. To be sent to clients, the site has to be converted to a paid Adobe-hosted site or exported via FTP to other hosting providers.

Now in beta mode for free, Adobe Muse is available to download and use starting today, and it requires Adobe AIR to run. However, it's only available in English for the moment.

The debut of Muse follows another big release for Adobe. Earlier this month, Adobe unveiled Edge, a new motion and interactive design software program for developing natively in HTML5.

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