(InfoWorld) - Microsoft has issued the second preview release of a graphic design tool that lays a piece of the foundation for its forthcoming Windows Vista OS and draws competitor Adobe Systems closer to its crosshairs. Acrylic is positioned to both compete with and complement offerings from Adobe.

"Acrylic is particularly good at graphics that have a very artistic visual treatment, making images that look like they were drawn with paint or acrylic or chalk," said Forest Key, group product manager in the developer tools division at Microsoft.

The addition of XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) support will benefit developers working with the Windows Presentation Foundation technology, formerly called Avalon and planned for Windows Vista, Key said. Designers can use XAML in building visual portrayals of an application in Acrylic; afterward, a developer can deploy the XAML code in Windows Presentation Foundation.

"I think [Acrylic is] going to give the Adobe products a run for their money," said Kerry Bodine, senior analyst at Forrester Research. "It's just got a lot of new features that we haven't seen before in [Adobe's] Photoshop or Illustrator."

SEE ALSO:

ADVERTISEMENT
Trend Micro
NEW ANTI-SPYWARE SOLUTIONS FROM TREND MICRO