JT, I doubt SoftPress would have closed its doors so formally if they imagined a subscription model would sustain them. There are no doubt other engineering issues too that we know nothing of, seeing Freeway is still an old carbon based app built upon the MacApp framework. It would truly take a fairly large engineering team well versed in modern coding standards to move Freeway a huge leap forward. And that is why it has been my hope over the past year (secretly, in my heart) that some merger or buyout or deal could be struck between SoftPress and Serif, maker of the amazing Affinity apps. Serif is on the fast track to kick serious Adobe fanny, and adding a powerful web design tool to their collection would be yet more icing on the cake.
Consider well what Serif have already (which sadly, for now anyway, is only for mock ups):
Immediately upon seeing that video I wrote them to suggest they take it further, toward full blown HTML output. My lone voice won’t mean much unless the rest of you join in, so here’s their contact info:
I’ve purchased both Affinity Designer and Photo, and while I don’t use them full time yet because they haven’t yet replaced Photoshop and Illustrator, I contribute feedback toward making that happen.
If there was a way to keep Freeway alive AND advancing (finally prying it off MacApp and on to modern coding standards, Retina facelift, Responsive design for dummies like me that doesn’t involve stupid templates) then I agree we should be fighting to keep it alive. But not seeing that happen, I myself must now explore other avenues.
I am aware of RapidWeaver and Stacks, and I had a detailed look at both recently and found that combo seriously lacking. It’s no Freeway replacement, believe me. And nothing else out there really compares to Freeway either That has been true since Freeway’s inception, which is what brought me to SoftPress in the first place.
That’s why I see Serif as the lone company out there who has the engineering capacity to get a web design tool created. Where there’s a will there’s a way. So it’s all a matter of inspiring that will in them.
Best wishes,
James Wages
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