FrontPage had components called "Web Bots" (Search, Timestamp, Included Content, Scheduled Image). These were dynamic functions that didn't require ASP or PHP. When you saved the file, FrontPage would ping the server extensions to generate the content. If you moved the site to a server without the extensions, the Web Bot just printed a garbled error message directly onto your homepage.
By allowing users to design web pages as easily as they would a document in Microsoft Word, FrontPage democratized web creation for millions of hobbyists, students, and small business owners. The Evolution of Microsoft FrontPage microsoft frontpage
For professional web developers, FrontPage was the "Villain of the HTML Apocalypse." If you moved the site to a server
The writing was on the wall.
was a pioneering What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) HTML editor and website administration tool. Developed by Vermeer Technologies and later acquired by Microsoft in 1996, it was a core part of the Microsoft Office suite from 1997 to 2003. Key Features and Capabilities microsoft frontpage
It was the first major tool to truly understand the difference between a file on a hard drive and a resource on a web server. It introduced the concept of "Server Extensions"—a piece of software installed on the host server that allowed users to edit live sites remotely, manage users, and use form handlers without knowing Perl or CGI scripting.