At its upcoming Professional Developers Conference next month, Microsoft Corp. is set to shed more details on its developer-oriented graphics tool, code-named Sparkle. Sparkle will be one element of the upcoming Expression Studio suite of design and developer tools for the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), formerly known as Avalon. Expression Studio also is expected to be unveiled at the PDC, sources said.

Expression Studio also will feature a design tool Microsoft has code-named Acrylic, which Microsoft said last week will support the Microsoft Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML). Other components of Expression Studio will be delivered over time, sources said. Sources said the primary goal of the Expression suite is to solidify Microsoft's presence in the developer space by not conceding the design market to Adobe/Macromedia.

Full story: eWEEK