September 2005 Archives
I don't know about you, but when a project I have been thinking about for some time suddenly pops up, launched by someone else, I experience a variety of emotions. Initially I'm annoyed at myself for having taken too long to get the project out of the pondering stage and into the real world. Let's face it, there are lots of smart people out there, so if you have a great idea the odds are that someone more qualified or better funded is working on something very similar. Thus, in many cases your only hope is the classic first to market advantage. But this is often tempered by feelings of relief. Whew, one less thing to be responsible for.
What a week for the design community, in which Quark provides details of the upcoming XPress 7 and Macromedia releases Studio 8. But if that wasn't enough, then Microsoft drops the bombshell at its Professional Developer Conference, with the announcement of the three apps in its Expression series. Speculation had been mounting about what MS was up to with its Sparkle app, tritely dubbed a "Flash-killer" by the media, and Acrylic, its intriguing vector/bitmap image editing and creation app that's been available as a free "technology preview" for some time now.
