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Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Ok, the whole Expression thing didn't bother me until this morning.  "Fine", I told myself.  Microsoft states that Expression tools are not for the developer; they were designed to be targetted to a different audience.  So I'll have to wait for Visual Studio .NEXT before I have something that can make my life easier in developing on the WPF / WPF/e platform.  No worries, I have plenty of other things to keep me busy in the mean time.  Don't get me wrong, I was a little upset since I spent several hours watching all of the expression videos that were on the Microsoft site to "learn" how to use them.  Of course, now that they aren't included in MSDN, that time was not very well spent -- since I'm a "developer".

But this morning put me over the edge.  I got the latest MSDN Flash and in it is this little gem:

Microsoft Expression: Bring Your Designs to Life
Expression Web, Expression Interactive Designer, and Expression Graphic Designer enable you to develop cutting-edge Web sites and richer interfaces for your Windows- or Web-based applications. Tune in to these free live and on-demand webcasts today.

If Expression is not for the developer, why is this sort of thing being dangled in front of me in a DEVELOPER email!  I don't mind being told that something isn't being made available because it wasn't designed for me... however, I DO MIND being teased.  And notice what it states in the description... here, let me highlight it for you:

Expression Web, Expression Interactive Designer, and Expression Graphic Designer enable you to develop cutting-edge Web sites and richer interfaces for your Windows- or Web-based applications. Tune in to these free live and on-demand webcasts today.

But the expression tools are not for the developer... sheesh.  Can Microsoft marketing get their act straight and stop teasing me with what looks to be like a very cool product line... and until the next release of Visual Studio... the only products that allow you to DEVELOP interactively using designers for WPF today.

Published Friday, January 05, 2007 2:14 PM by CorySmith

Comments

# re: Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Friday, January 05, 2007 10:25 AM by Alex G

Well Cory, normally, if all goes well, there are people other than developer working on a given application/web site. Hopefully those non-developer types would engage the tools and make applications/web sites more appealing and user friendlier.

:)

# re: Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Friday, January 05, 2007 10:59 AM by CorySmith

That is fine.  Here's the crux of the problem.  You have an MSDN email promoting a Microsoft "training" event that is specifically targetting developers through a Microsoft channel that is specifically for developers for a product that has been deemed by Microsoft as not being targetting to developers and thus not being made available to developers through MSDN.  Yet FrontPage is "for developers"?!?!?  On top of it, the description in the email and on the home page for Expression uses the word "develop"?!?!?  Expression tools are (as Microsoft states) for "designers"... so shouldn't the word utilized be "design"?  Given the uproar that occured (which I was staying out of) due to Expression Web not being made available to developers through MSDN, you'd think that Microsoft would be more keen on avoiding using the word develop in it's marketting and not tease the developers by advertising training for a product that the developer does not have access to.

# re: Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Friday, January 05, 2007 11:24 AM by Philip

Alex G - you mean if all goes well for Microsoft.    After working for places or consulting at many clients that sold software or had external facing products, only one had "designers".  

And Cory's right - dangling these products in front of us and saying how great they are for development of WPF apps, only to tell us that we can't use them is more than frustrating.  I give my kids time-outs for behavior like that.

# re: Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Friday, January 05, 2007 2:04 PM by CorySmith

Don't get me wrong, Microsoft isn't saying we "can't use it"; just that it's not available to us (MSDN Subscribers) because the tools don't target us, the developer.  So to use the products, we have to purchase them seperately - and we do qualify for an upgrade price since we currently have a license to FrontPage via MSDN -- which apparently does qualify as a developer tool. ;-)

# re: Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Saturday, January 06, 2007 5:05 PM by Michael Russell

And of course, don't forget that the price of the high-end MSDN subscription has gone from $2,799 to $10,939...

# re: Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Saturday, January 06, 2007 7:53 PM by Philip

Well, Cory - you're taking a much calmer approach :)

I guess I'm mainly just frustrated at getting nickel & dimed by a company I've paid more to over the years than I've spent on my cars, and supported by endorsing the platforms and helping sell their products.   It just makes it worse that Expression is such a nice product line.  

More to the point of your post, I guess I'd be much less bitter if they'd just come out and say they were excluding this from MSDN for revenue reasons.  The whole "you shouldn't have expected it, you don't want it anyway, use sharepoint stuff" line is really irritating, especially when It's constantly being pushed in the developers face (by MSDN channels) as a cool tool for development.

# re: Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Monday, January 29, 2007 7:55 PM by Darryn

I did a "Vista for Developers" course at MS last March, and half a day was spent on Expression.

# re: Expression confusion continues... by Microsoft

Friday, February 02, 2007 9:16 AM by Walter Lounsbery

The latest drop of the Microsoft Partner Action Pack includes both Expression Web and the SharePoint Designer tool.  I hope the other Expression applications will be provided when they RTM.  Otherwise, I am also upset that Microsoft is trying to isolate this product line from the DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS!

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