Microsoft's Expression line features Expression Web for Web design. It is the only one of the Expression tools already shipping with a Microsoft nameplate.

"What [Expression] Web is about is it's a new designer tool for the current era of standards," leveraging technologies such as Cascading CSS and XSL, Zocher said. XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) will be added in the future.

Expression Web can place controls from Microsoft's ASP.Net AJAX technology into Web pages for capabilities such as in-place refresh. ASP.Net AJAX is to be generally available in about two weeks; it has been offered in a prerelease form at this stage.

Expression Blend for Windows applications features an XAML-based graphics, animation, and interactivity editor for designers, and Expression Design is for building graphics for user experiences; it too leverages XAML. Expression Media, meanwhile, is a media cataloging application for managing media and graphics.

All of the products will be available together as part of the Expression Studio bundle in the second quarter of 2007 for $599. Expression Blend and Design are being offered in prerelease forms, while Expression Media technology is available now under the iView MediaPro name. Microsoft has acquired the iView technology.