Expression Studio 4 RTM’d, Free Upgrades for Expression 3 Users

Microsoft has released to manufacturing version 4 of Expression Studio, revealing that the first downloads of the suite are already available to customers. Expression Studio 4 was focused on streamlining web application, design and development, the company noted, underlining that the tools were set up to integrate seamlessly with the latest releases of Expression Blend, Visual Studio and the.NET Framework.

“Great design and development both require passion, skill and exceptional tools. With Expression Studio 4, we’re delivering a single toolset that brings these two worlds together,” S. “Soma” Somasegar, senior vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft, explained. “The new features in Expression Studio 4 enable better customer engagement, greater flexibility and faster time-to-market.”

Expression Studio 4 RTM is not available for purchase at this point in time. Designers and developers can already download the RTM bits and start testing them, but they will need to wait a tad longer in order to actually buy the product. According to Microsoft, Expression Studio 4 Ultimate will cost USD599, while Expression Studio 4 Web Professional will come with a price tag of USD149. However, the Redmond company promised that existing customers of Expression 3 would be able to upgrade to Expression Studio 4 for free.

“Some of the new features and functionality in Expression Studio 4 include:
• Seamless flow between design and development. Expression Studio 4 Ultimate allows fast translation from ideas to rich, digital prototypes plus simplified creation of applications for Silverlight and for mobile devices, including Windows Phone 7.
• Streamlined Web site creation. The toolset makes it easier to build and deploy Web sites plus advanced visual diagnostics speed browser compatibility testing.
• Simplified video publishing. Encode a wide variety of video file formats, such as VC-1 and H.264, to make simple edits and enhance builder media for distribution through players built with technologies such as Silverlight,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Softpedia.