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Microsoft Takes On Adobe

Microsoft Takes on Adobe And Macromedia With New Microsoft Expression

On the second day of Microsoft's Professional Developers Forum Conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced the new Microsoft Expression tools, still in beta form. The tools, code-named "Acrylic", "Quartz" and "Sparkle" will be the rivals of Adobe's Illustrator, GoLive and Macromedia's Flash.

"We're pretty confident that our graphics customers will continue to look to Adobe tools to provide a rich and full array of graphics functionality," said Pam Deziel, Adobe's director of platform strategy after seeing a demonstration of Microsoft's forthcoming products.

Microsoft's Sparkle Interactive Designer, the new animation tool, will take advantage of the new graphics presentation system in the next version of the operating system, Windows Vista, due out next year. It would offer an alternative to such programs as Macromedia's popular Flash animation software.

The Acrylic Graphic Designer will be a painting, illustration and effects tool from Microsoft in the same segment of the market as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Microsoft's Quartz Web Designer would rival Adobe's GoLive Web design program.

"There's a lot of great stuff in there," said Eric Rudder, Microsoft Senior Vice President for the Server and Tools division.