Web design in 2009

To make web pages you don't need the latest software. You don't need Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 or the latest Microsoft FrontPage.

Pocket the £200 you were going to spend on the software and instead, get a two-output graphics card and a cheap second monitor.

On my machine I already had a GeForce 7800 GT so I just added a 15" TFT which I got from a friend for free. Check freecycle for people throwing away old computer monitors!

Once you have your two monitors up and running you'll need to get some high quality software. Luckily, this can now be done for free.

You will need:

• 1 Great text editor
• 1 FireFox web browser plus a few addons

Text Editor

The text editor needs to have features such as code highlighting and tabs, so you can edit more than one file at once. For windows, Notepad++ is excellent, I use it every day but alternatives include EmEditor and UltraEdit.

On a mac you need to definitely need to take a look at TextMate.

Firefox Addons

Install FireFox and head straight for the add-ons library. You will definitely need:

• Firebug
• and Html Validator

Other add-ons which you might find useful are:

• MeasureIt
• ColorZilla
• Web Developers Toolbar
• Copy Plain Text

That's it, you are ready to build web your web pages!

On the small monitor, maximise FireFox and on your main screen, open your chosen text editor and edit the HTML / CSS / Javascript there.

I have included a screenshot of my desktop right now.