14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has sold off a part of its Expression business, but, in all fairness, the company appeared to have given up on Expression Media long ago. Phase One acquired Expression Media from the Redmond company, according to a joint announcement from the two on May 25th, 2010. Neither party wished to disclose the financial details of the agreement that made Copenhagen –based Phase One owner of the software giant’s solution of managing digital content.
Proof that Microsoft was no longer considering Expression Media an integral part of the Expression Studio is the fact that, while the suite evolved to version 3.0, the digital management solution remained stuck at v2. Existing customers running Expression Media 2 will benefit from support from Microsoft for another 90 days. After August 25, 2010, Phase One will be solely responsible for Expression Media 2, including offering support.
“We’re excited about taking ownership of Expression Media,” Henrik O. Håkonsson, president and CEO, Phase One, said. “We have worked with Microsoft for several years, during which many of our customers have chosen Expression Media for their digital asset management needs. We are now planning product developments to help meet the growing needs of current and future customers. As an immediate benefit to existing Expression Media customers who may not yet have tried it, we are offering a free copy of Capture One to help enhance their photographic workflow.”
Expression Media is the only piece of the Expression suite puzzle that Microsoft has parted ways with. In fact, the Redmond company underlined that it remained committed to developing Expression Studio beyond version 3, which is currently offered to developers. The software giant cited the need to support Silverlight and.NET developers when it revealed that it would continue building the design tools that were packaged under the Expression Studio umbrella.
“Phase One is a respected and deeply committed leader in the digital photography market. With its strong experience in digital imaging software solutions, we’re thrilled that it will drive this technology forward,” Josh Weisberg, director of Strategy and Business Development at Microsoft, added. “Through this agreement, we’ve made every effort to ensure that the integrity of the Expression Media technology remains intact and that our customers experience a seamless transition.”
Expression Blend 4 Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Express is available for download here.
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Visual Studio 2010 Professional is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate is available for download here.
Visual Studio Test Professional 2010 is available for download here.
.NET Framework 4 RTM is available for download here.
Silverlight 4 Build 4.0.50401.0 RTW is available for download here.
Expression Web 3 Service Pack 2 (SP2) is available for download here.
Microsoft Expression Studio 3 Trial is available for download here.
Microsoft Expression Web 3 Trial is available for download here.
Microsoft Expression Blend 3 + SketchFlow Trial is available for download here.
Microsoft Expression Design 3 Trial is available for download here.
Microsoft Expression Encoder 3 is available for download here.