Do you think Pixelmator is a good replacement for Fireworks? Fireworks has been really great at allowing me to quickly mock-up different web layout concepts without having to write any HTML code. I know some are in the "concept with HTML camp", but I've found Fireworks to be so much faster. I've never bothered too much with Photoshop since Fireworks did 90% of what I wanted.
I'm like many, however, in grumbling about how crappy Fireworks has gotten (at least on OSX, not sure about Windows) and am to the point that I'm ready to move on.
Pixelmator is a almost perfect clone of Photoshop 5. Not CS5, version 5 from 1998 or so. Even the shortcut keys are identical. I happen to like it a lot.
If your primary use of FW is to mock something up and export it as HTML and image slices, Pixelmator is not for you. You can get a free trial, IIRC, and see for yourself.
I have moved from webdesign so that I no longer need the design features I admired on Fireworks. What I liked most about Fireworks was the blend between the vector and bitmap graphics, and I don’t think that Pixelmator is getting anywhere close to that. But it’s worth to take a look. Also try out Acorn (http://flyingmeat.com/acorn/). I think both have a free evaluation.
I'm a huge fan of Pixelmator. Read Fabio Sasso's tutorials if you're having doubts, might not necessarily be much on web mockups, inspiring nonetheless. http://abduzeedo.com/tags/pixelmator?page=1
I'm like many, however, in grumbling about how crappy Fireworks has gotten (at least on OSX, not sure about Windows) and am to the point that I'm ready to move on.