When Microsoft FrontPage was bundled into Microsoft Office, it legitimized web design as a standard office task. Suddenly, you didn't need to be a coder to have a presence on the internet. The interface looked exactly like Microsoft Word. If you knew how to bold a sentence or insert a clip-art image, you could now build a webpage.
FrontPage was designed to make web design accessible to non-programmers by allowing them to build websites using a familiar, word-processor-like interface.
: Allowed simultaneous viewing of code and design (introduced in FrontPage 2003). microsoft frontpage
In 2006, Microsoft officially pulled the plug, announcing that FrontPage would be replaced by Expression Web and SharePoint Designer. By the time the final extension servers were retired a few years later, FrontPage was gone.
FrontPage built the bridge. It allowed a high school student in 1998 to create a "Home Page" for their band. It allowed a real estate agent to put listings online. It allowed the "mom and pop" shop to have an email form. It lowered the barrier to entry so low that anyone with a copy of Office could become a "webmaster." When Microsoft FrontPage was bundled into Microsoft Office,
Open a FrontPage-generated site in Notepad, and you would find:
For professional web developers, FrontPage was the "Villain of the HTML Apocalypse." If you knew how to bold a sentence
By allowing users to design web pages as easily as they would a document in Microsoft Word, FrontPage democratized web creation for millions of hobbyists, students, and small business owners. The Evolution of Microsoft FrontPage
bundled with Office 2000 Premium, it added enhanced support for Dynamic HTML (DHTML) and improved site management .