BIOS: Technology Means Business

Yesterday at the Microsoft Professional Developer Conference 2005 (PDC05), Eric Rudder, senior vice president, Servers and Tools at Microsoft, introduced Microsoft's Expression, a family of high-end software tools for creating rich content for the Web and forthcoming Windows Vista platform.

The announced products and their code names are Expression code-named 'Acrylic Graphic Designer,' a painting, illustration and effects tool for creating graphic designs; Expression code-named 'Sparkle Interactive Designer,' a user-interface design tool for modern application development using the Windows Presentation Foundation; and Expression code-named 'Quartz Web Designer,' a layout and design tool for creating Web sites.

Rudder stressed that the new tools portfolio, paired with the Windows Presentation Foundation, will help drive down the cost and effort associated with building richer, more compelling and exciting applications with unique differentiated capabilities.

'Our goal is to redefine what is considered a 'good enough' user experience today through integrated development and design capability,' Rudder said. 'Ultimately this is about enabling mainstream adoption of user experience within both business and end-user applications, resulting in richer differentiated experiences on the Web and the smart client that promote business opportunity and productivity.'

Incorporating design concepts into the development process has typically been difficult due to communication and technical gaps between design and development teams. With its Expression family of products, Microsoft says it bridges these gaps by leveraging common file types and languages such as Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML), HTML and ASP.NET and through integration with Microsoft's Visual Studio, which should simplify development processes.

These tools enable designers to work with vector and bitmap graphics, 3D content, rich text, media and animation, and then to integrate those designs with developer code and functionality created using the Visual Studio family.

These capabilities are similar to what Macromedia offers to Java developers with its Macromedia Flex tool, which enables programmers who are writing server-side Java code to work with designers of graphical user interfaces to create rich Internet applications, according to Macromedia.

Adobe is currently in the process of acquiring Macromedia, a deal that shareholders have approved but that still awaits regulatory approval. More information about Microsoft's Expression family can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/expression.