Microsoft Expression Studio 2 Available Shortly

Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 8, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.

Microsoft Expression Studio 2, the new generation of professional tools for web and interface design, will be available from July 10, 2008. Web designers, web developers and programmers of Rich Interactive Applications (RIAs) can also purchase “Expression Professional Subscription,” a subscription service for updates, add-on programs and other materials. Microsoft Expression Studio 2 offers more than 100 new features in total and provides full support for Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 for the first time. Detailed information and trial-version downloads are available on the German-language website at http://www.microsoft.de/expression.

Microsoft Expression Studio 2 is the new family of professional tools for web designers, interactive designers and developers of Rich Internet Applications. It was created to provide a seamless workflow between designers and developers. Based on the open XAML format, graphics and code can be exchanged seamlessly between the design environment and development tools without conversion. Expression Studio 2 can be used to design and develop both cross-browser, cross-platform web applications with Microsoft Silverlight and desktop applications for Windows. The main new features of the individual design tools at a glance:

• Expression Web 2 now supports PHP and the import of Adobe Photoshop files
• Expression Blend 2 supports Silverlight and vertex animations, and includes an improved user interface with a new split Design/XAML view
• Expression Design 2 offers optimized export functionality, including the ability to export individual graphic segments for the web in any format
• Expression Media 2 simplifies the use of catalogues on a network, integrates Virtual Earth for visualizing GPS data, and supports the latest file formats from Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office for Mac 2008
• Expression Encoder 2 makes it possible to optimize almost any video file for online publication, streaming video, multimedia advertising or other Web 2.0 projects

Further information and free trial versions are available on the official German website for Expression Studio 2: http://www.microsoft.de/expression

Expression Professional Subscription

Expression Professional Subscription is a subscription service for professional interface designers, web designers and developers of Rich Interactive Applications. Along with the latest version of Expression Studio and access to non-public prerelease versions, it provides extensive documentation, training materials, virtual testing resources and scenarios, and additional software. These include Windows Vista Ultimate, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Visio Professional and virtual, preconfigured server environments for testing. Expression Professional Subscription is available both as a single-user version and through standard volume-licensing programmes. The licensing model corresponds to that of MSDN Subscription.