Microsoft Updates Vista Design Tools

By Nate Mook, BetaNews

March 13, 2006, 2:30 PM

Despite claims that it has "paused" development on the product, Microsoft delivered an updated CTP of Expression Graphic Designer -- formerly known as Acrylic -- over the weekend, along with a refreshed build of its Interactive Designer tool.

Expression Graphic Designer has been hyped as a rival to Adobe's Photoshop, but Microsoft has designed the product to specifically take advantage of the new display capabilities in Windows Vista. Graphic Designer outputs into the XAML file format that is natively supported by Vista's Presentation Foundation.

XAML files can be 2-D or 3-D images, text, animation and even video. Because of this integration, Graphic Designer and the two other Expression Studio products are not expected for release until after Vista debuts later this year. However, work is continuing on the tools in the meantime.

Much of the code in Graphic Designer is based on a program named Expression, which Microsoft picked up through the acquisition of Creature House in 2003.

The March Community Technology Preview brings improved XAML export and support for the February CTP of WinFX. WinFX is the next-generation .NET Framework that will ship with Vista and be available for Windows XP.

The XAML export feature is tied closely to Expression Interactive Designer, formerly known by the code-name "Sparkle" and incorrectly labeled as a competitor to Macromedia Flash, now owned by Adobe.

Like Flash, Sparkle does create animations and an object can be exported as a WBA file for viewing in a Web browser. But Sparkle's being angled as an interface tool and is tightly integrated with Visual Studio, even utilizing the same build mechanism for executable files.

The March CTP of Interactive Designer offers improved grouping of elements, drag and drop, enhanced clipboard functionality, and a number of other fixes and tweaks. The beta release expires on August 1, while the Expression Graphic Designer CTP functions until the end of 2006.

Microsoft sees Expression as vital to ensuring that developers match the user experience it plans to deliver in Windows Vista. The tools draw directly upon the WinFX foundation in the operating system and simplify the creation of advanced interface elements.

"If you got no tools, [Vista's] not going to go anywhere," Wayne Smith, senior European product manager for the Expression family, told BetaNews at PDC 2005.