FROM MIX 07 Microsoft on Monday officially began shipping Expression Studio, the company's new product suite for building what it calls "next-generation user experiences" for Windows as well as the Web. Expression targets the new breed of designer that is also part developer.

Expression was largely created to help companies build applications that take advantage of the new Windows Presentation Foundation found in Windows Vista. Microsoft hoped the rich application capabilities would draw users to Vista, but developers have been slow to build such experiences.

Expression Web, which shipped on its own in December, is now joined by Expression Blend, Expression Design and Expression Media. The retail package additionally includes Visual Studio .NET 2005, along with hours of training videos.

Formerly known by the code-name "Quartz," Expression Web replaces Microsoft FrontPage, which has largely been reincarnated as SharePoint Designer and is included in Office System 2007. Microsoft is endeavoring to target professional Web designers with Expression Web, and has removed features that relied on FrontPage Server Extensions in Beta 1.

Although Expression was first publicly introduced in 2005, Microsoft's intentions to build a platform for rich applications on Windows and the Web dates back half a decade, when Vista was still known as Longhorn and Microsoft talked up its new database-driven WinFS file system that would never arrive.

Seeing the success of Flash on the Web, Microsoft snagged a number of Macromedia developers and began work on "Sparkle," which later was unveiled as Expression Interactive Designer and eventually renamed to Blend. While it utilizes vector graphics like Adobe's Flash, Blend is entirely about interfaces.

In order to enable the development of graphics for building Sparkle-driven interfaces, Microsoft acquired the Expression brand from Creature House and released "Acrylic," which was thought at the time to be a planned competitor to Adobe's Photoshop. Acrylic creates 2D and 3D images that can be outputted into the XAML file format that is natively supported by Vista's Presentation Foundation. Since its debut, the product was renamed Expression Graphic Designer and has now been shorted to just "Expression Design."

Expression Media, meanwhile, is a re-branded version of iView MediaPro, an asset management tool that includes a visual catalog for keeping track of digital media such as images, fonts, sounds and videos. Microsoft says it will "maintain the product" and keep the Mac OS X version alive. Adobe offers a similar tool called Bridge.

Despite the similarities between Expression and Adobe's Creative Suite, Microsoft doesn't see the products as direct competitors. Microsoft says the products ultimately fill different roles and target distinct groups of developers. However, the company admits that a little competition is good for the future of the Web.

It's clear, however, that Expression is critical to Microsoft's future moves both on Windows and the Web. Microsoft's Smith says that in the near future, user interfaces and overall experiences are going to change drastically, and he expects to be "shocked at how quickly" people begin making use of these new tools.

Already, Microsoft is working on the next version of Expression, as evidenced by a "May Preview" release of Blend 2 on Monday. Blend 2 was released specifically to enable developers to take advantage of the Silverlight 1.0 Beta. The goal for the next iteration of the complete suite, says Smith, is to make the products more accessible to designers by requiring less code be written.

Expression Web can be purchased on its own for $299 USD, with a $99 USD upgrade for FrontPage users. Expression Blend runs $499 USD and includes a copy of Visual Studio Standard, while Expression Media is priced at $299 USD, and free for iView Media Pro customers. Expression Design will only be available as part of the full Expression Studio suite, which is priced at $599 USD.