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Published On: Jul 23, 2004 09:21 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jul 23, 2004 09:21 PM
What's Microsoft doing with Expression?
One of the Mac MVPs found a
curious free application available on Microsoft's download site and its presence
is a mystery.
Why is Expression on
Microsoft's website?
Corentin Cras-Méneur, a Mac MVP who often alerts the rest of us to new products, found this application in the Downloads section of Microsoft's website. Expression is a Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X vector graphics application most similar to Adobe Illustrator. It's interface and capabilities have impressed me very much for an application that's free. While I can't say it's a competitor to Illustrator I would say it's a damn good rival.
According to the Expression web page on Microsoft's site, "Microsoft has completed the purchase of certain Creature House assets." The Creature House website doesn't mention the acquisition of assets but does explain its mission by saying, "Being computer scientists and artists in one has enabled us to make unique tools that answer to the needs of artists and designers. The world of comics and animation is unfolding still, and it keeps us busy." Its download for Expression is now dimmed and unavailable.
So why does Microsoft now own Expression? The Hong Kong based Creature House seems to have no other significant products that could have been bundled together, such as Virtual PC was bundled with the acquisition of Connectix's virtual server technology. Could this be a future component of Office for Mac? A stand alone product?
Dennis Cheung, a MacBU developer for Office for Mac, happened to link today to an article on pcmag.com with an interview with Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen. In the interview Chizen comments on why Adobe Premier and Adobe PhotoShop Album are not made for the Mac platform. He says that since Apple offers basically the equivalent of these applications for the Mac for free then it makes no sense for Adobe to try to compete. He goes on to say that Adobe's secret to competing with Microsoft is to stay close to what they do well and realizing that "good enough" is not acceptable. Then he refers to when Microsoft bundled PhotoDraw with Office and failed to niche out Illustrator and Photoshop.
Based on all that's been said and has happened, we're left with a few questions. Does Microsoft plan to try again to niche out Illustrator and Photoshop offering a cheaper alternative to those applications? Or is it looking at Expression for new features to add to Office for Mac? Or is Expression there for some other reason?
Corentin Cras-Méneur, a Mac MVP who often alerts the rest of us to new products, found this application in the Downloads section of Microsoft's website. Expression is a Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X vector graphics application most similar to Adobe Illustrator. It's interface and capabilities have impressed me very much for an application that's free. While I can't say it's a competitor to Illustrator I would say it's a damn good rival.
According to the Expression web page on Microsoft's site, "Microsoft has completed the purchase of certain Creature House assets." The Creature House website doesn't mention the acquisition of assets but does explain its mission by saying, "Being computer scientists and artists in one has enabled us to make unique tools that answer to the needs of artists and designers. The world of comics and animation is unfolding still, and it keeps us busy." Its download for Expression is now dimmed and unavailable.
So why does Microsoft now own Expression? The Hong Kong based Creature House seems to have no other significant products that could have been bundled together, such as Virtual PC was bundled with the acquisition of Connectix's virtual server technology. Could this be a future component of Office for Mac? A stand alone product?
Dennis Cheung, a MacBU developer for Office for Mac, happened to link today to an article on pcmag.com with an interview with Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen. In the interview Chizen comments on why Adobe Premier and Adobe PhotoShop Album are not made for the Mac platform. He says that since Apple offers basically the equivalent of these applications for the Mac for free then it makes no sense for Adobe to try to compete. He goes on to say that Adobe's secret to competing with Microsoft is to stay close to what they do well and realizing that "good enough" is not acceptable. Then he refers to when Microsoft bundled PhotoDraw with Office and failed to niche out Illustrator and Photoshop.
Based on all that's been said and has happened, we're left with a few questions. Does Microsoft plan to try again to niche out Illustrator and Photoshop offering a cheaper alternative to those applications? Or is it looking at Expression for new features to add to Office for Mac? Or is Expression there for some other reason?
Posted: Fri - April 23, 2004 at 11:22 PM