This is the last in a series reviews that will cover what is contained in the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2. Unlike the Adobe Creative Suite, the Technical Communication Suite is geared for technical communicators, help authors, instructional designers and training professionals. The suite contains five products; FrameMaker 9, RoboHelp 8, Captivate 4, Photoshop CS4 and Acrobat Pro Extended. The goal of this series it to define what each product does and provide information of what the new version brings to the table. Please note that some of these products have been reviewed in other suites and I have provided the links above.

First, let me provide an overview about the Technical Communication Suite 2 in general. This suite is meant to be an end-to-end solution for authoring, reviewing, managing, and publishing technical information and training content. Through the use of interactive 3D models, rich media, multilayered images, demonstrations, and embedded SWF movies, you can create and maintain technical documentation, user assistance programs, knowledge bases, simulations, software demonstrations, and much more.

What do you need to run Adobe Captivate 4?

• 1.0GHz or faster processor
• Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit editions)
• 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
• 1.5GB of available hard disk space
• DVD-ROM drive
• 1,024x768 screen resolution

Adobe Captivate 4 is a key member in the Technical Communications Suite 2 in that it provides the solution for the creation and publication of learning systems. It utilizes screen captures and, unlike many of its contemporaries, allows for interactive responses as opposed to just generating screen recordings.

With Adobe Captivate 4 you can build and edit simulations and then post them to a Web site, to an intranet, set them up as an online help system, e-mail them, or even generate a PDF document with media clips.

So what is new with Adobe Captivate 4?
• SWF commenting lets you accelerate content creation cycles with real-time reviews in Adobe Captivate Reviewer. Reviewer is an Adobe AIR application that lets reviewers add comments to your SWF files while executing them. What is really great is that they don't even need Adobe Captivate installed to work with. All of the comments will be imported to the appropriate slides in your project.

Article Author: T. Michael Testi

T. Michael Testi is software developer, a writer, and a photographer. He also blogs at PhotographyTodayNet and is building a blog about the development of a state-of-the-art Green Dream Home in Oklahoma.

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