Microsoft's Expression Means What?

Microsoft plans to follow this month's Visual Studio code-name "Orcas" CTP (community technology preview) with another in February. The next Orcas CTP will include many of the tools Microsoft previously announced for its Expression Studio suite.

I spoke with Forest Key, director of product management for Microsoft's design tools, late yesterday after several Microsoft Watch readers voiced confusion about Expression. The software isn't available to subscriber developers through MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network), and they wanted to know why.

Aaron Stonerock, a Columbus, Ohio-based Internet lead programming analyst, was one of the Microsoft Watch readers asking for clarification about Expression. "From the response I received in the Expression Web discussion forum, the claim was that Expression was not a development tool and therefore did not belong in MSDN downloads. Applying that logic, Office will be the next cut from MSDN downloads."

I had similar reaction to Stonerock about Expression Web, which is first among the applications in the product family to be available. Like him I inquired and got a similar response from Microsoft's outside PR folks about Expression being for designers and not developers. The position seemed to contradict every briefing I had from Microsoft about Expression. So, I asked to speak with Key.

"Expression is a product for designers. Period," he said.

OK, so what happened to the developer-designer opportunity Key told me about in December (and for more than a year earlier)?

"We do think there is need for designers and developers to work more closely together," Key said. But the tools for developers will be Visual Studio Orcas and not Expression Studio.

Key emphasized that from a tool set perspective, the February Orcas CTP would bring many of the included designer tools closer to what will be available in Expression. Coming features include full WPF/E (Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere) support and design-like capabilities coming from Expression Blend.

"Visual Studio has design features, and it will have more with Orcas," Key emphasized.

Microsoft will seek to improve developer-design workflow at both ends, with two different but complementary product families. Rather than working with sketches or mock-up images, designers would use Expression to create the same project files that developers would use to manipulate with Visual Studio. Microsoft still seeks to improve developer-designer workflow as the key opportunity for Expression, but in conjunction with Visual Studio.

"Those of us that used the 3-4 [Expression] CTPs that had the ability to combine Vector and Pixel layers were excited to see a Microsoft tool that would eliminate the need for [Adobe] Photoshop and Illustrator," Stonerock said. "Now we are just upset. Microsoft blew it on clear communication of their direction with this product."

"The people who are confused are developers," Key said. "We have a design product for them, and, guess what, it's Visual Studio."

If developers are confused, so am I. The articulated marketing strategy sounds like a revision to me. Maybe it was a work in progress that needed refinement or clearer explanation. Maybe I misunderstood, as did others.

Tate Antrim, another developer working in Ohio, who expressed similar frustration as Stonerock. "Right now I have to use Corel Draw 13, Photoshop and a couple of other things to do any graphics for my pages that are exclusively done in ASP.NET," he said. "Come on Microsoft, I'm one of your evangelists--make it as easy as possible for me to develop stuff using your tools. Put Expression into MSDN."

Blend is the Expression product troubling me, because it sounds like a developer tool. If there is a Microsoft Flash competitor, WPF/E is going to be it.

Key chocked up any confusion to roles that aren't clear-cut. "We get that developers design. The labels designer and developer are useless--I'll be the first to admit it. The labels are not mutually exclusive populations."

For developers that want to do more design, "Visual Studio will deliver in spades," Key said, referring to Orcas.

Stonerock's question about Office and MSDN lingers, however. One of my first questions for Key was about why no Expression if Microsoft offers so many other products through MSDN that are not developer tools. Why are Publisher and Small Business Accounting available to developers through MSDN and not Expression?

Key didn't directly answer the question about why no Expression, and I wonder if he had one. He's one of Microsoft's straight shooters, who in my experience doesn't sidestep or sideline questions.

Microsoft should make Expression available through MSDN, so that evangelists within businesses can use the software and hands-on promote its adoption.

Yesterday, Key directionally discussed Expression version 2.0 and 3.0. By version 3.0, he expects the designer opportunity to be absolutely clear. In the meantime, with Oracs still in development--and three other Expression products, for that matter--Microsoft would do right by its developers and own business interests by broadening the Expression pool of users. MSDN would be a great delivery mechanism.