Microsoft Expression Sparkle
OH MY GOD! I expected Microsoft Presentation Foundation (formerly code-named “Avalon”) to change the landscape of UI design, but I didn’t expect Microsoft’s attempt at an Avalon authoring tool to be so damn cool. Microsoft Expression - Interactive Designer (code-named “Sparkle”) is a dream-come-true for developers with a penchant for UI design.
At first glance, it is reminiscent of Macromedia Flash™. This is mainly due to the presence of a timeline, and the vector-based graphics. But you soon realize that it is so much more than that. It is a 3D Windows™ user interface designer on steroids that has been developed with the designer in mind. For too long, Windows™ UIs have been “coded” by developers - many of whom have all the artistic talent of a cluster of colour-blind hedgehogs, in a bag. But at long last there is hope for the design of Windows applications, because designers can design, coders can code, and users can be impressed.
A Flash™-killer it is certainly not - well, not yet. Yes, XAML can be delivered over the web and it can look stunning in a WPF-compliant browser. But XAML and Avalon are not intended as web standards.They are Windows™-specific. Flash™ can be embedded in standard web pages on almost any platform - it is the Java™ of animated graphics.
Sure, there will be some sites that will end up serving XAML to compatible browsers and HTML to the rest - but I think, largely, the denizens of the net will resist a two-tier web. And in economical terms, most websites will not want to maintain two codebases.
Where you can expect to see Avalon-powered user interfaces exploding onto the scene is in rich-client Windows applications. And Microsoft Expression - Interactive Designer (a.k.a “Sparkle”) is the thing that is going to make that a stunning reality.
Have a squizz at this video on MSDN’s Channel 9.