I use the Microsoft Expression family of products, mostly Expression Web to build Web sites. When Expression launched a few years ago, it included a suite of products including Web, Blend, Design, and Media. The makeup of the bundle, Expression Studio, changed with version 3, dropping Media from the mix.

Microsoft got its hands on Expression Media when it acquired iView Multimedia. Then known as MediaPro, the iView product got high marks from its users and was a very popular product. Although I have not used it extensively because I have other tools, my experiments showed the program to be quite competent. The quality of the product and its popularity make it hard to understand why it is no longer part of Expression Studio and why it remains in version 2 while the rest of the suite is at version 3 with version 4 just around the corner.

While I can't understand why Media's version is lagging, there is a possible explanation for dropping the program from the suite - the program is available for both Windows and Mac! And another reason might be that Microsoft realized it could sell Media at its $200 price point, making more money on the product than if it was part of a suite. The program is in the same general category as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, which sells for $300.

Whatever the reason, Microsoft continues to promote the product on its professional photography site. Even though the chatter from various Web forums gives the impression that Expression Media is dead, there is no official indicator from Microsoft that the product might fade away.