“Microsoft has quietly launched the beta program for its new illustration, paint and image-editing tool codenamed Acrylic. It is aimed at graphics pros working in print, web, video and interactive media,” Grace Aquino writes for PC World. “According to Microsoft, Acrylic is based on Expression 3 (formerly from Creature House). It combines both pixel-based painting with raster- and vector-graphic editing… To run the beta, you need Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed on your computer.”
“The 77MB Acrylic beta is available as a free download [Windows-only] from Microsoft’s site, and expires October 2005,” Aquino reports. “More details, including a shipping date and support for Mac OS X, were not available.”
Full article here.
Get a life Sputnik!
The real IT world knows that this is one of the killer applications that MS is preparing to infiltrate the photoarts market that Apple has previously dominated. This, in conjunction with .Net will change e-commerce and real commerce in ways that most can never fathom.
The real IT world is full of computerized bureaucrats that have an ill-perception that almost follows suit to that of unknowledgable consumers. .Net will never reach the status quo (or market penetration) of Java, since .Net is not cross-platform (and Mono/dotGNU don’t count). The world wants open standards and Microsoft is failing to deliver (proprietary XML file formats for Office 12 as a prime example of that failure).
This is a pre-emptive volley by MS to destroy the previous and last remaining stronghold that Apple holds in graphic arts field.
Hmmm… remaining? Apple has nearly 80% of the graphics and desktop publishing markets. Over half of Adobe’s revenue from Photoshop comes from Mac customers. There’s no doubt that Microsoft will attempt to chip away at Adobe’s market dominance in the digital document creation/collaboration world, but hopefully the Microsofties (such as M$ worshiping yourself) will be outnumbered by the rest of us who know better!
I see really stupid comments. Guys, who wants you to ditch your Photoshop for a beta software? Is it prohibited for Microsoft to launch beta versions of their software, while it is allowed, and even recommended, for anybody else ?
Expression is very good, but I’m afraid Acrylic won’t be that good. But who knows, it’s just a beta we’ve seen (but a tester said it is in reality an alpha version, a first alpha version).
Sputnik:
Real IT shops like to have support for software on their desktops and predictable product release timetables:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];lifecycle
Microsoft is throwing their own support organization into exception mode because they can’t meet release dates – Windows XP will have to be supported until 2009 because they couldn’t ship LongDump on time.
Note on XP: “Mainstream support will end 2 years after the next version of this product is launched. Extended support will end 5 years after Mainstream support ends.”
Real IT shops like vendors that can deliver on their promises, or they go somewhere else for products.
shheeeshh after reading that blog, for me to think Maczealots were rabid! not even close, lol.
Acrylic is a vector drawing/painting program in competition with Illustrator/Painter/Freehand/Xara…if it is ever actually developed past the Beta version.
Why Microsoft made it (it was being developed by the same people that created Expression) one has to wonder.
The interface on Acrylic and Expression are hard to work with.
I keep trying to use it…but after a bit I always go back to Illustrator for my vector illustration work.
“Microsoft goes head-to-head with Photoshop”
PCAdvisor is the idiot here – I bet they never even tried it out.
Expression was interesting when it came out – but the files it makes are HUGE and then Illustrator tacked on what Expression can do…so who needs it?
The people at Adobe are having a nice chuckle over this thing.
And this beta version expires in October 2005….
Awwwww how cute, Awwwwwkillit. Gee the yanks are still on the kill kill kill warpath. You need to get over yourselves immediately.
It’s a vector drawing/paint app with some pixel-based features. It’s NOT a Photoshop killer! It was a nice app for the money when it was Expression – although, yes, with an interface that needed a polish.
If everything is compared to Photoshop, by people who live and dream Photoshop, yeah these people will be disappointed and run as far away as possible. But I like the motto: An app for everyone. Choice is good. Yet, there isn’t any choice when it comes to vector-based paint/drawing apps. Where are the graphic apps for the Mac, other than Illustrator and Photoshop? Not everybody is an industry artist, some are just artists or creative people who don’t need all the functions (or even the price) of Illustrator, or Photoshop. Or some have the money and buy Painter – although I liked Painter better when is was Fractal Design/Meta Creations. There are many people out there who can do amazing things with Expression. Look around on the web.
Each app has its positive and negative sides, but most people just talk foul when it’s MS or not an Adobe app. Come on guys, not everybody has to be a Photoshop or Illustrator person. I was a paid customer for Expression and want a Mac version of Acrylic. There needs to be choice!
Expression was one of my most favorite tools for doing certain vector paint functions. It was underappreciated by the graphics community because it was a one trick pony. But it did it’s trick extremely well. MicroSuck should roast in Hell.
Acrylic is just another example of Microsoft having totally and utterly lost its way…
M$ aims to dominate in every type of software…but its products are now such junk that its becoming difficult to find to see how they will dominate in any area of software in the future.
“Expression was one of my most favorite tools for doing certain vector paint functions. It was underappreciated by the graphics community because it was a one trick pony. But it did it’s trick extremely well. MicroSuck should roast in Hell.”
Therein lies the irony. Microsoft is once again venturing into an arena where they have no idea what they are doing. They are trying to stick their fingers in EVERY piece of pie in an attempt to dominate that market. They do this by intimidating other companies and by decreeing things as standards. Yet everything they create is so blatantly mediocre or just downright bad.
I hope they continue to stick their fingers in more pies. This will just aid in their eventual downfall as they try to be all things to all people.
I’m not familiar with the app and I’m willing to believe it sucks, but I do think Adobe could use a little competition. The CS package is lousy, to be quite honest. Unstable and WAY too pricey. If the MS package could run for more than hour without crashing (unlike CS) I’d be quite interested in learning more about it.
just an opening shot (very mild) in a MS war against the Mac.
Even though Adobe has increased its support for Windows apps in recent years, they are still a prime Mac ally.
Now is a good time for MS to be having a go at this.
Adobe is really letting Photoshop in particular, other CS apps to a lesser extent, languish in a cloud of marketing hooplah instead of actually pushing the boundaries with their apps. Competition is good, as long as MS doesn’t come out on top!
But the entire CS thing screams of marketing bullshit as opposed to real product innovation. Adobe needs a kick in the ass. I for one hope that MS provides a good stern one, in this case.
As I consider myself a “graphics professional”, I’m obviously going to rush out and buy the “Photoshop killer” ‘Acryllic’ (and a PC to run it on), so who wants to buy my suite of Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator programs and my now defunct 17″ Powerbook and G4 tower?
No one?
Let me guess? You’re all about to do the same thing, aren’t you?
Microsoft – “photoshop killer”…
Having used photoshop for the last 12 years since version 2, I have only one word to say…
LLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!!!!!
The problem with “graphics” programs like this is the poor guy who has to print whatever is designed with this. I have worked in printing and it sucks to get files from people in formats like Microsoft Word or whatever. You cannot publish things from non-standard programs like that very well. They think that since they got a few copies to print with the laser printer that you can publish the same with a real printing press. Most people don’t understand what goes into printing something (and that includes alot of graphic designers).
anyone here of y’all genious critics ever worked with Expession at all? Well, I did and it has some very unique features – esp. when you work with an intous or the like. Of course it’s not a PS killer, thats bullshite, but the app really rules in some areas.
This is a Photoshop killer like MS Publisher is a QuarkXPress killer.
I wonder if, with Acrylic, I can calculate a new channel by excluding 40% of the Cyan channel from 20% of the Black channel, making the new channel a spot color from the Toyo catalog and then save the file as a DCS EPS?
“I used it on a Pentium III around 1988-1990, and it worked fine.”
Apparently, your time machine worked fine, too. The Pentium III wasn’t released until 1999. The original Pentium wasn’t even around in 1988-1990.
Wow. This was a great opportunity for an amazing MDN editorial.
So, I’ll do it:
This is a wake-up call to Adobe that Microsoft is not your friend, only a blood thirsty soulless company who tries to get every dollar from their “partners” as they can.
Adobe, after the past 5 years of reluctant support of the Mac, maybe it is time to think a little long term and start propping up competitors to Microsoft. You are only help fund their war chest against your products.
Let’s see some Mac-only products, or Mac products which have more features than the PC version. If any company can do this type of thing and have a business case for it, it’s Adobe. 50% of your customers are Mac people, and it is a strategic investment against a well funded and money thirsty competitor.
Not too late for a post, I hope.
Get ‘Expression’ here, while you can:
http://creativebits.org/2004/07/hell-froze-over.html?PHPSESSID=d2720db05e742262458b68e44b039140
Enjoy
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Its like Publisher, total crap. Give a pre-press guy a disc made in Publisher with its special format & he’ll say F*ck its .pub nothing works with this. Change it using Acrobat & Distiller then fix it up. Time wasting MS crap with its special file formats. People will use this as Photoshop then wonder why a printer will throw them out the door with a foot up their ass.
I’m a graphic arts pro and trainer — been doing it for 25 years.
I just downloaded the Acrylic beta on my PC. This is not a ‘PhotoShop killer’. Or a PhotoShop Elements killer. This is not even a PaintShop Pro killer. It MAY be a MacPaint killer, but I’d have to find my old Mac 128K to check that first.
Rather, this is a crude, thumb-fisted combo vector/raster combo program, similar in concept to Canvas (although not nearly as good — and we all know just ow well CANVAS is selling …).
The UI is hilarious and the screen draw (even with my 256MB ATO graphics card) is painfully slow.
If MS is stupid enough to release this as a ‘pro’ graphics application, it will be laughed out of the market in a month.
News Flash: Mircosoft today announced that they have begun development on what they think is the future of digital picture displays: Photo Slideshows..