So what is new with Adobe FrameMaker 8?
• Unicode Support – you can now edit and support content in multiple languages as well as author content for global audiences with dictionary and hyphenation support for more languages.

• DITA Support – FrameMaker 8 now supports the DITA standard. DITA is the XML-based architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering technical information. You can now use a prebuilt DITA application to author, publish, and distribute topic-oriented information in XML as well as creating DITA maps.

• Rich Media Support – Now with the Technical Communications Suite, you can combine content into multiple forms. You can create more engaging online documentation by incorporating 3D models, rich Adobe Flash Player compatible animations, and simulations created with Adobe Captivate software, as well as creating Adobe PDF files incorporating live 3D models.

• Text Edit Tracking and Multiple Undo – now allows you to highlight, accept, and reject text changes as well as undo multiple changes with a single click using the History Palette.

• Microsoft Office 2007 Support – will now let you import content created in Microsoft Word and Excel 2007.

Enhancements include
• Conditional Output – will let you create single source variations of the same document for different channels and purposes. You can now use conditional tags and build complex Boolean expressions for defining output filters in structured and unstructured mode. You can distinguish multi-conditional text through the improved color coding.

• XML Round-tripping – lets you now round trip web-based graphics in XML workflows.

• XML Schemas – are now available as an alternative to DTDs for defining the structure of your content.

There are a lot of very cool enhancements contained within Adobe FrameMaker 8 not the least is the way in interacts with the other packages included with the suite. For example, I took a 3D model of a brake system that was created by someone else and saved as a .U3D file; A U3D file is an industry standard for 3D modeling and is supported by the PDF format. So without having any knowledge of what it takes to create this file, I can drop it into the FrameMaker project and use it to create an interactive product.