Another way, which was how I started, is to download a site that you fancy, and load the home file (index.html) into your web design program, and just fool around with it.
Firecat. Perhaps you moved the goalpost a little there

Fwiw. When you installed Dreamweaver, it picked up the php associate. If you are happy with Dreamwaver - no probs. Otherwise, as you probably know, you can change the associate back to IE.