Acrylic from Microsoft

In the first week of May, Microsoft announced a new file format called
Metro which was meant to compete with Adobe's PDF.

If our readers remember ... in 2003 Microsoft had purchased a Hong Kong
based company called Creature House and consequently acquired its
Graphics application software, Expression.

Fast Forward to June, 2004. Microsoft now has released a test version of a
new professional graphics tool code-named Acrylic based on Expression.
Microsoft describes the software--currently (a 77MB free download) --as
bringing together pixel-based painting and vector graphics features. These
capabilities will put Acrylic in a prominent position in a market dominated
by Adobe Systems with its pixel-focused Photoshop and vector-driven
Illustrator products. The test version, or beta will expire on Oct. 1.

Although a Macintosh version of Expression was available before the
Microsoft purchase, however, the test version of Acryclic cannot be used
in Mac. Microsoft recommended an Intel Pentium 4 machine, with
Windows XP Service Pack 2, 512MB of memory, 500MB of disk space
and a pressure-sensitive graphics tablet supporting the WinTab interface
for running and using Acrylic.