Macromedia have announced Studio 8, their new release of their suite of applications.... and missing from the lineup is Freehand.

Illustrator has not stepped in to take its place, there is just a hole. Dreamweaver 8, Flash 8, Fireworks 8 and then the makeweights of Contribute 3 and FlashPaper 2 complete the set.

A strong US bias in the pricing sees UK customers being charged much more than those in the US before tax (more after): UK's price of an upgrade at £299 isn't the same as US's price $399: £299 = $530 at today's exchange rates!

Hopefully Xara can capitalise on Freehand's demise with a new release of Xara X¹ which can open all Freehand and Illustrator files :P