Expression Blend® FAQ
General and sales
Q: What is Microsoft Expression Blend 4?
A: Microsoft Expression Blend 4 is a professional design tool to create compelling
user experiences and applications for Windows using either the .NET Framework 3.0,
.NET framework 3.5 (which both include the Windows Presentation Foundation), or
for the web with Silverlight.
Q: How can I purchase Expression Blend 4?
A: Expression Blend 4 is part of the full Expression Studio 4 Ultimate. It can
be purchased from a range of resellers and online resellers or can be purchased
for immediate download from Microsoft’s online store. For a comprehensive list of
purchasing options, see the Buy page of the Expression Website at http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Purchase.aspx
Q: Do I get SketchFlow with Expression Blend 4? ?
A: Expression Blend 4 includes SketchFlow in Expression Studio 4 Ultimate edition of the product. For a comprehensive list of purchasing options, see the Buy page of the Expression Website at http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Purchase.aspx
Q: What is the price for Expression Blend 4?
A: Expression Studio 4 Ultimate has an estimated retail price of US $599.
Q: What are the upgrade options and prices?
A: Owners of Expression Studio 3 and Expression Web 3 qualify for a free upgrade to respective version 4 of Expression. Once version 4 trial versions are available on www.microsoft.com/expression, end users can download and install the trial and it will find the version 3 license on their hard drive. Once the version 3 license is found, the version 4 trial will be automatically converted to full product with no expiration.
For customers who have received their version 3 products through Microsoft programs (MSDN, MAPS, Bizspark, Websitespark, etc.), you will need to download the version 4 products from the respective program download sites.
Please visit our upgrade page for the latest information.
Other qualifying customers can upgrade to Expression Studio 4 Ultimate for an estimated retail price of US $349.
Q: In what languages is Expression Blend 4 available?
A: Each of the Microsoft Expression products is available in the following languages:
English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese
Traditional, and Korean.
Q: Is there a trial version of Expression Blend 4?
A: The fully featured 60 day free trial for Expression Blend 4 is currently available
for download here as part of the Expression Studio 4 Ultimate Trial.
Q: Where can I find resources to help me use my Expression products?
A: There is an
Expression Community Web site that contains a frequently updated wealth
of materials on all the Expression products and the Microsoft technologies that
they are designed to work with.
Product specific
Q: I would like to build content for Silverlight 3, should I install Expression
Blend 4?
A: Yes. Expression Blend 4 supports both Silverlight 3 and Silverlight 4 projects.
However, we encourage customers to take advantage of the many new features of Silverlight
4.
Q: Can I install Expression Blend 3 and Expression Blend 4 at the same time?
A: Yes. You can install all versions of Expression Blend at the same time if you
wish.
Q: What is the relationship between Expression Blend 3 and the .NET Framework
that is part of Windows Vista and Windows 7?
A: With the .NET Framework, designers and developers can work collaboratively to
build visually stunning Windows applications that deliver a superior user experience
and enhance user productivity and satisfaction. The .NET Framework includes the
Windows Presentation Foundation, which includes XAML (Extensible Application Markup
Language), a markup language for describing application user interface, documents,
and media content. XAML serves as a back-and-forth communication format which designers
and developers can use to directly exchange and collaborate on applications created
using both the Expression Studio 3 and Visual Studio. Expression Blend 4 targets
both .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.0 applications.
Q: What is the relationship between Expression Blend 4 and Expression Design
4?
A: Microsoft Expression Design 4 supports the creation of graphic designs for export
to the XAML file format–the declarative markup language that is used to describe
application user interface elements and rich content for both WPF and Silverlight.
Microsoft Expression Blend® 4 is built on WPF and can natively consume the XAML
files exported from Expression Design 4.
Q: Does the Expression Blend Free Trial have an expiration date?
A: Yes. The free trial will expire 60 days after your install the program.
Q: What compatibility issues do I need to be aware of?
A: To get accelerated hardware performance from .NET Framework 3.0/3.5 and Expression
Blend 4, you need to make sure you have a recent graphics driver installed. Check
your display adapter for the following settings (Start, Control
Panel and then Display):
- Click the Settings tab and then under Color quality, make sure Highest (32 bit)
is selected.
- Click the Advanced button, and then on the Adapter tab, click the Properties button.
- Click the Driver tab and look next to the Driver Date to see if the date is more
recent than 11/1/2004. If it is not, then video and hardware acceleration will not
work properly on your system unless you upgrade your video drivers. This issue will
be fixed in future versions of the .NET Framework.
Q: I am using Expression Blend 4 Release Candidate to create applications for
Windows Phone 7, should I update to the released version?
A: No – the Phone authoring extension and SDK are not compatible with more recent
versions of Expression Blend 4. We are working on an updated Phone authoring extension
and SDK and will have news to share around this shortly.
Q: I need to continue creating Silverlight 3 content, but also want to create
content for Silverlight 4, is it possible to have Expression Blend 3 and Expression
Blend 4 installed at the same time?
A: Yes. Expression Blend 3 and Expression Blend 4 install and work seamlessly side
by side. You may also want to test the multi-targeting capability of Expression
Blend 4 which enables you to target either Silverlight 3 or Silverlight 4 as your
target platform while still taking advantage of many of Expression Blend 4’s enhanced
features.
Q: Does Expression Blend 4 support Visual Studio 2010?
A: Yes. Expression Blend 4 supports Visual Studio 2010 Projects, as well as the
following platforms Silverlight 3, Silverlight 4, .NET 3.5 and .NET 4.
Q: Is SketchFlow included as part of the Expression Blend 4 trial?
A: Yes. Expression Blend 4 supports Visual Studio 2010 Projects, as well as the
following platforms Silverlight 3, Silverlight 4, .NET 3.5 and .NET 4.
Q: Is SketchFlow included as part of the Expression Blend 4 trial?
A: SketchFlow is included as part of the Expression Studio 4 Ultimate trial.
Q: How much will Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone cost?
A: Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone will be free.
Q: Aren’t Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone and Expression Blend 4 the same
product?
A: No. Expression Blend 4 enables authoring for Silverlight 3, Silverlight 4, .NET
3.5, .NET 4 and SketchFlow projects by default, installing Expression Blend 4 for
Windows Phone will add phone authoring capabilities to your existing Expression
Blend 4 install. Installing Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone independently without
a previous install of Expression Blend 4 will allow the creation and editing of
Windows Phone projects only.
Support
Q: How do I get technical support for my purchased Expression product?
A:
Visit Microsoft Help and Support.
Q: Is customer support offered with Expression Trial versions?
A: Formal support is not offered for this Expression Trials. Instead, we have a
community Web site and forums for all
the Expression products where you can solicit feedback and help get your questions
answered by the both the Expression community and the moderators from the different
Expression teams.
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