Fireworks to Edge Reflow?

Question

I know Adobe don't like Fireworks but I'm hoping that they will have a workflow from FW6 to Edge Reflow. Is there any info on this?
Photoshop is great for image editing but it sucks real hard for web and mobile design, I just can't use it for that sort of work. I still find it mid-boggling how many people have FW installed and yet use PS for all their web and mobile design work. Unbelievable.

Answer 1

The output is bad, but it doesn't have to be, so I'm wondering which steps in building the FW layout in a particular way are most onerous.  If you had to put all the elements you want to appear in a div together in their own sublayer, would that be too bad?  What about naming elements in a particular way to specify how they get output?  What if you had to use a special div auto shape instead of a rectangle to draw backgrounds and things?
I tried this process with great excitement when FW became able to export CSS-based layouts but the results were terrible so I abandoned it and just went back to producing the layouts as they were required visually. Your ideas are on the right track in terms of setting up the FW page and getting good output (with a better engine). Personally, I don't like to use lots of layers and never use sub-layers (selecting objects on the canvas in FW is so easy), so the sub-layers approach is less appealing but I do like the idea of a DIV auto shape. It would have to act as a container and be able to 'hold' the elements inside it, including other DIVs and possibly tables. I think shapes and text (content) should be styled using FW styles which would be converted into CSS styles (does it already do this? I haven't checked).
I think to really test the integrity of this process would require some more thinking and scenario-based documentation, which I would gladly do if you were interested in doing something in this space. I love FW and use it every single day.
That would require rebuilding it from the ground up, but I also believe that a graphics app built on an HTML renderer is the future, since you get layout reflows and rich styling for free.  Reflow is nowhere to having sufficient tools for even a very basic drawing app (not that that's what it's trying to be right now).
I totally agree re the graphics app on HTML renderer which is why I'm so interested in moving the design and layout process onto a real HTML layer right from the start. This includes interactivity as well eg. rollovers, content flips, sliders etc. etc. ER immediately made me think like this but as you say, it's miles away from it and I don't expect Adobe to go to that place.
John, if you're interested in pursuing any of these ideas, I would be delighted to provide input and research into any effort. I am a UI designer/strategist for a web-based CRM/CMS company.
Cheers
Paul