Frontpage web hosting requires the web server to have Frontpage server extensions installed.

FrontPage is designed to hide the details of pages' HTML code from the user, making it possible for novices to easily create Web pages and sites.

Some web developers criticize this approach as producing HTML pages that are much larger than they should be and cause Web browsers to perform poorly. In addition, some people criticize FrontPage specifically for producing code that often does not comply with W3C standards and sometimes does not display correctly in non-Microsoft web browsers. Some have even speculated that FrontPage's rather poor code generation was intentionally done to inhibit uptake of alternative browsers.

A version for Mac OS was released around 1998; however, it had fewer features than the Windows product and Microsoft never updated it.

FrontPage's primary competitor is Macromedia Dreamweaver, another web design product.

One of the more unique features of FrontPage is that it has built in support for automated and easy to use web templates. The main distinction between these templates and other universal html templates is that FrontPage templates include an automatic navigation system that creates animated buttons for pages that have been added by the user, and creates an advanced multi-level navigation system on the fly using the buttons and the structure of the web site. FrontPage templates also commonly include FrontPage themes in place of CSS styles.

In 2006, Microsoft announced that FrontPage would be superseded by two products. Microsoft SharePoint Designer will allow business professionals to design SharePoint-based applications. Microsoft Expression Web Designer is targeted at web design professionals, for creating full-blown web sites. Both are partially based on FrontPage and are currently in development.
 

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