Expression Suite to RTM before April 20

It has recently come to my understanding that Expression Studio, the new suite of professional design tools from Microsoft, which includes Expression Blend, Expression Web, Expression Design and Expression Media are all expected to finalise and RTM (release to manufacturing) before April 20. This is the date of Microsoft’s design-oriented design conference MIX 2007 in Las Vegas.

Recently, Microsoft announced the every attendee of MIX07 will receive a free commemorative copy of Expression Studio. This could only mean one thing - the product must be finished, produced and packaged before the event begins. If this isn't the case then there is a whole lot of explaining for Microsoft to do.

With only 20 days to go, it may seem like an overwhelming task to ship four products, of which two are still in beta. It was only two weeks ago that Expression Design was updated to Beta 2 status and Expression Blend as a Release Candidate. However, the bug count at their respective beta portals suggests both products are progressing extremely well with most new bugs fixed within hours if not days. This is something the Vista team should definitely learn from.

Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect at Microsoft, is most likely to announce the availability of Expression Studio at the MIX07 keynote. Expression Studio is expected to retail for US$599. My best guess is that Expression Studio will RTM on April 8.