Expression Studio 2 Beta: set of programs for designers

17th March 2008

A beta-version of the applications package for designers Expression Studio 2 has come out. The package includes the programs of Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Design and Expression Media.
The program of Expression Web, which is positioned as a competitor to DreamWeaver replaced by FrontPage, now fully supports editing PHP-code. There is a selection of syntax and automatic filling in, and in addition, developers can preview PHP pages in the browser without the need to install a separate web server.
In addition, Expression Web 2 supports Silverlight1.0: developers can edit HTML-files created with the help of Silverlight, or insert applications created on the basis of Silverlight in web pages, along with the files of Flash and Windows Media. Besides, there is support of ASP.NET AJAX and import of Photoshop PSD files.
The main innovation of Expression Design, meant for developing elements of 2D and 3D graphics, is a new option of Slices. Using it, you can export the image fragments into different formats, such as .bmp, .psd, .tiff and HD Photo.