As I recently found out. I used Fireworks for a lot of my image creating and editing. Its not like I've got anything against it, it just is limited to the things you can do e.g. You can't professionally design an object that would look like live one. The image editing is limited to the properties you can edit.

Although fireworks has some problems like every professional software there is on the current retail market. It's still out weighted by its pluses such as the tool of live marquee and the magic wand tool, the filters (although there aren't that many compared to Photoshop). One of the biggest pluses there is I think it's how easy a person can learn it to use. I've found it incredibly easy, I recommend it for beginner designers. Its compatible with kickass softwares such as flash, illustrator and dreamwever.

I recommend Fireworks as it is easy to learn, but for more professional designers who do not like to be limited and like freedom of designing all sorts of crazy stuff I recommend softwares such as Illustrator and Photoshop. Overall I think it is a very good product one of the first that a beginner designer should use. For more checkout:

http://www.adobe.com/products/fireworks/

Overall I think the ranking should be 7/10 for this product but as I say judge for yourselves get a trial version and test it out

Damian Gaslawski...signing off.