Microsoft is quietly discontinuing its Expression suite of tools for Web developers and designers. The Expression suite had included four separate pieces: Expression Design 4, Expression Web 4, Expression Blend and Expression Encoder. Expression Design 4, a vector-drawing tool, will cease development, and Microsoft doesn’t plan to offer any alternatives. Expression Web 4, the suite of HTML and CSS tools, will also be discontinued, but Microsoft plans to beef up the HTML and CSS capabilities in Visual Studio to compensate.
However, the company will continue development on UI tool Expression Blend, which will be bundled with Visual Studio. Also, Expression Encoder, a media file conversion and streaming tool, will continue life as a standalone product.
