Free Microsoft Illustration Application for OSX
Microsoft Expression is a free illustration application for OSX (the site says it’s available for XP, but I can’t find the link). Expressions was created by a company called Creature House, and it looks like they were recently purchased by MS.
When I showed this to a colleague, his first comment was “I wonder what Microsoft’s angle is”. They have tried to compete in the digital imaging market before with little or no success (ie. Image Composer). I wonder if they are looking for a vector based tool for Longhorn (I have read that the Longhorn GUI will be vector based using XAML).
Hmmmm.
MS Expression studio is a free to try for 60 days application from MS, and it’s more a suite of products. I also wanted to try it, so I did, and I was immensely impressed with a first generation effort like this. It is amazing, very user friendly, it mimics many of the same functions as Macromedia’s Fireworks. Here is the link:
http://www.microsoft.com/expression
I have Illustrator, Fireworks, and Expression Design. Although Design is a great application if your making graphics for the web, I would not use it for much else. If you’d like to try the free product, know that the files for Design are proprietary, and default into .design files.
Is it worth the money? I have to licensed copies, it comes with Microsoft Expression Web, an html, css, xaml, everything app like Dreamweaver, there is little difference. There is an app called Blend!! I love blend, which is like NOTHING else I’ve used. It is used to make interfaces, and I LOVE it. It’s like having a tool that easily makes your wildest dreams come true when it comes to GUI.
Try it for the 60 days, I did, and I think as a suite, it’s worth having if your a designer or a developer.
kiriaka