As it approaches the release of version 3 of its Expression Studio suite of design tools, Microsoft has announced that one former part of the suite will no longer ship with the upcoming version.

Microsoft officials said Expression Media, the company's digital asset management software for cataloging photos, video and music, will no longer ship as part of Expression Studio. Expression Media will ship as a standalone product. This change will be effective with the upcoming Expression Studio 3 release. Microsoft has scheduled an Expression Studio 3 launch event for July 10 in the San Francisco Bay area.

Regarding the decision to change its suite a Microsoft spokesperson said, "Microsoft will continue to market Expression Media to digital photographers, who make up the largest customer base for this product, and will continue to invest in digital photography.” And Expression Studio and Expression Media will be sold separately.

Expression Media is a digital asset management solution Microsoft took over when the company acquired iView Multimedia in 2006. Microsoft evolved that company's iView Media and iView Media Pro technology and renamed it Expression Media.