Why Microsoft FrontPage 2000?
Posted on August 6, 2023 at 7:23 AM.

Updated on October 17, 2023 at 5:50 AM.

(return to Tech's Blog)

Old, yet easy to use and it's fun.

Some already know already that I use Microsoft FrontPage 2000 to make my website, but why exactly?

I'll try and not get technical, but pardon me if I do.

It all started when I acquired the domain, technologicalbyte.com, which at first, was a simple redirect to my YouTube channel. Then, when I was rambling through my old stuff, I came across Microsoft Office 2000, which I haven't used for a very long time. In fact, I only slightly remembered using it back when I was a kid to very early teenage years, but I surely remembered using Microsoft Word and mostly PowerPoint. I didn't bother to use Access, Excel, and even FrontPage, since it was too much for me back then. But now, having the software installed on an old laptop running Windows 2000, I can say that I regained some memories of using it for sure, such as for goofing around, to making some "diary" of random things, which unfortunately I don't have with me... Though, I might cringe at it, if I happen to have it with me. Anyway, back on topic.

After launching FrontPage for the first time and only seeing a blank page with text input, I decided to create my very first page. I had a choice of using such templates, which I did and experimented with it at first, I just didn't like most of the styles it came with. Some were very weird, to downright bloated. I decided to "bobs-my-uncle" and start from scratch after many templates. You can see what this website used to look like before I did some improvements to the layout. Though basic looking and simple navbar, I was inspired on some old Microsoft's site design, with the black navbar to the website banner on the top left corner, it was simple and that's why this site's design look something from Microsoft's site back in the late 90s to early 2000s, before they went on "full gradient" after the launch of Windows XP in 2001. Though, I could go "full Apple" and instead of having too much text on the page, I would make bitmaps in which my website would literally become "bitmaps galore", but the time it'll take for me to do that would be too much, compared to just sticking to this site design and just start typing away.

Yeah, this is what my site used to

look like, very basic indeed.

I gotta say it's pretty fun making this website, especially that's simple, basic, and not using "modern website templates" that I'll discuss later on, but especially my mission of building my website, in which is compatible on older browsers and making my site be flexible when it comes to SSL, like what one of my 88x31 box would say, "SSL NO SSL YOU DECIDE!". Now of course, some would ask me, why don't I use WordPress or Squarespace?

Thanks, but no thanks.

Like I said in my older blog post, I like to use old software, especially ones that was made for a computer, instead of trying to make said application designed for a computer to run on so many devices, like our phones for example. Now, I know a ton of people say it's easy to make a website using such products, which is fine, since people would use what we have now to make a simple website using "modern website templates" and target audiences that are running modern operating systems like Windows 11, etc. in no regard of backwards compatibility with old browsers, since apparently almost everyone wants to use Google Chrome, or any other chromium-based browsers... Plus, unlike WordPress, or other web-based site builder, I can use FrontPage completely offline! Why? Because it's an application MADE for computers and DOES NOT require an internet connection to run.

About "modern website templates", I just don't like them to be honest with you. Sure, it's modern and all that, like.. autoplaying background video that moves when you scroll, etc. Even though some modern website templates look simple and basic, some are infested with so much CSS, and even worse, useless JavaScripts! If I would to turn off CSS on a website that looks modern, clean, and basic, the website literally breaks apart, such as having huge giant vector-based images filling your browser space and other weird nonsense, which when I think about it, I begin to sense a feeling on why, on some websites when it's loading, for a split second or even a full second, the website looks broken before it loads the main CSS in which, the site would "snap back together". Though, that does happen to me sometimes, I've had sites that fail to load the main CSS, and oh god, huge vector-based images all over the place! But can sometimes be fixed by a click of the refresh button, unless the webmaster of said site did a goof and forgot to fix their CSS.

Image courtesy of Ascenzo,

who unfortunately had to

deal with that css fail. 

Not on older websites like this! As of me writing this blog post, this website uses less CSS and can even run without CSS completely (with some minor visual imperfections) without worry of such "jumpscare" from happening, which one of my friend experienced when loading a website, all he got was "giant legs" covering the website from a vector-based image of a person; that was amusing and awkward too... Anyway, considering modern websites are filled with many CSS and JavaScripts, which 95% of these scripts are just trackers and useless scripts to make the site load and perform so slow for no reason at all.

But anyway, no I'm not going to use WordPress, or Squarespace, or wix, or modern website builder tools that are online only, and runs in a browser. Microsoft FrontPage 2000, or any old WYSIWYG HTML editor software would do! There's no need to use newer software if the older software you use works flawlessly! Before you ask if "mobile support" is coming to my website, the answer is no because, all what matters is the site to load on your phone! You can just simply zoom in and see text or content the way you want it, instead of a fixed screen size. It's about choice!

As I said to my friends and people in my community servers, newer isn't always better. Stick to old software that works flawlessly and only upgrade at your own , just like sticking to older operating systems!

That is all, thanks for reading!

TechnologicalByte

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