I use Fireworks for all my initial website designs, but usually end up tweaking the HTML in Dreamweaver (Fireworks produces fixed-width websites, I prefer mine to be variable width - I hate websites that don't size themselves to the size of the window you're using!)
 
The technique Fireworks uses for all it's menus is quite complicated, but once learnt becomes second nature.
 
I haven't tried any of the other apps - isn't PhotoImpact a graphics program? Sounds a bit like Adboe making Photoshop do the web thing - trying to be too many things at once!! I haven't tried Xara, but I notice it does have a free trial on its website (and it has the advantage of only costing $20, compared to $200-$300 for Fireworks)
 
Have you tried looking on Webmonkey? I'm sure they've got articles on how to do menus by hand...?
 
Hope this helps
Rgds
AndyF

Hi Andy,
Thanks for your input. Actually making the menus by hand is just about the last thing I want to do. That's the whole problem with web development it's to complicated. There's about 5 languages you have to know instead of one and then on top of it all you have to be graphics expert since there aren't enough HTML objects. PhotoImpact actually has some decent web features. I would agree that it's trying to be too many things, but the main problem with it is that it is probably the most difficult to use out of all the graphics programs out there.
Cheers,
Christian

The Xara app isn't half bad, but the problem is you can't use icons with your menu items. Other than that I'd say it's a pretty darn good tool.
Cheers,
Christian

I found this product while searching around for the exact same thing. I tried the trial, and think it's great. Creates a small enough javascript file that those on dial up won't have to wait terribly long for the menu to load, and the DHTML code is infinitely tweakable. It's great if you were wanting animated javascript based menus.
 
http://www.sothink.com/webtools/dhtmlmenu/index.htm

Hi Avalanche,
I wish I'd seen your reply sooner, but YahooPops has been down for a while now. I guess Yahoo Must have changed something, but in any case I have to check my Yahoo account manually (on the web, gasp 8) ). Your menu program does seem to have better icons and more features. I wound up buying Xara Menu-Maker instead. However I do think I did wind up making a great looking menu: http://12.246.77.42/rawcities/. I'm still moving the content over from www.RawSeattle.org, but it'll be a whole new website soon enough. I do like the icons and APP Menu 1 is bad ass. Can you use icons with that one? I also think the ability to have a form appear over a particular menu item is especially boss. I may have to try your app out just for kicks and giggles. I think it's obvious that more technical poeple worked on Sothink's product whereas Xara had better artistry. Does anyone else have a contender? ;(
Cheers,
Christian

Hey Christianb, I think the menu you've created there is pretty spiffy, no worries about whether or not Sothink's product is any better. I think that with imaginative use either will suite anyone just fine. I haven't tried Xara's product, but from your example, I'd say it's just as capable a product.

Hi Avalanche,
Well I'm still a little disapointed with my Xara purchase, because I want to have a Search Text Box pop up over a search button so users can easily search the site, without having to load another page. However I guess it's not really that big of a deal I can add the button, they can click on it, and search from there almost as easily. Besides, people don't search that often. It's also not a professional website, so they'll have to put up with a few inadequacies . But yes you're right for the most part they're comparable. I did spend a lot of time choosing colors though to come up with that excellent color combination. I liked the color combo from their template, but I never want to see my exact menu on another website, so I choose my own colors and you know what I think I like them better, because they reflect my creativity rather than some entirely some other artists. However, I still haven't chosen a different font, and I'm not sure I will. I don't want to be that nit picky. I will get other things working first, since the Menu is just a series of graphics and javascript I can always change the font in my menu later and all the pages the employ my menu will updated automatically. Thanks again for your help.
Cheers,
Christian