14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is the type of company that wants to get in trouble at all costs. The competition with Linux, Apple and Google seems to be insufficient to the Redmond giant (or to Bill Gates), so the company has added a new competitor on its list: Adobe.
And no, we are not talking about the Metro format Microsoft is hoping to replace the .PDF with. This time is much more serious, especially since Adobe is not just Adobe anymore, the company including Macromedia as well.
Microsoft Expression, the suite composed of Acrylic, Quartz and Sparkle, is aimed at becoming the more popular than its Adobe counterparts, like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe GoLive and Macromedia Flash.
So far, the only product which has been in beta stage is Acrylic, and even the beta 2 is light years away from any Adobe product. We don't know much about Quartz, a web editing program, and Sparkle, an equivalent to Flash, except that both of them will use WinFX and that they will be launched after Windows Vista enters the market.
It's ok that Microsoft wants to broaden its areas of expertise and to encourage the development of products for WinFX, but to directly compete with Adobe is absolutely suicidal.
Is there any room left on the market for another graphics suite? Perhaps, and Microsoft might persuade some of Adobe's clients to migrate to Expression, but it will take years before Expression becomes a competitive alternative.
Perhaps it would have been wiser for Microsoft to invest its money in a better Windows Vista rather than spending money on dreams.