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2006-05-17
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First Look: Microsoft has promised that its new "designer" tools will make it easier for the "creative" people to work with developers, by integrating design features with Visual Studio. Now that the first CTP of Expression
One challenge for many companies who build Web solutions is that investments were made largely in software engineers and not in designer staff. In fact, designers have often been shunted to the last part of a Web site project. While this might be good news for your own salary, it isn't necessarily good for the quality of the user interfaces that you produce.
Part of this problem certainly rests squarely on Microsoft's shoulders. As good as they are in other roles, Visual Studio 2003 and Visual InterDev simply are not good as Web design tools. Yet, often the only differentiation a site can offer is its user experience. Expression Web Designer is the User Experience differentiator that is tied into Visual Studio 2005 development groups.
Microsoft's Expression Web Designer is part of the set of "designer" tools which Microsoft collectively labels under the Expression name. The family also includes a graphics tool (Expression Graphics Designer) and a interactive designer tool (Expression Interactive Designer). This week, Microsoft released the first CTP candidate for Expression Web Designer, and the following is based on my initial examination of its features.
As with Graphics Designer and Interactive Designer, the focus of Expression Web Designer is the visual artist. Many of its tools are designed specifically for the graphics designer who wants to build visually stunning Web sites. However, there's a lot to like here, whether you're a designer or a developer (and especially if you're both).
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