Samuelson said casual Web designers who used previous versions of FrontPage will find the new one at least as approachable. However, much of the market for mom-and-pop Web design has already moved on.

The next version of the company's FrontPage Web-authoring application is geared toward professional designers and developers.

It is offering the product as an upgrade to its Microsoft FrontPage Web authoring tool. In addition, Microsoft posted a public beta download of Expression Blend, its Windows-specific design software.