Microsoft has released new Community Technology Previews (CTP) of Expression Interactive Designer and Expression Graphic Designer. This is a refresh for the Graphic Designer application and the first public CTP release for Interactive Designer. Registration is required for these downloads.

From the Graphic Designer download page:

"Microsoft Expression Graphic Designer (formerly code named "Acrylic") is a professional illustration, painting, and graphic design product. Visit the Expression Graphic Designer Features page for an overview of the main features. For more detailed information please view the videos that are also available on the Expression Graphic Designer site."

From the Interactive Designer download page:

"Welcome to the January 2006 Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Microsoft Expression Interactive Designer. This is our first public CTP release and represents our initial opportunity to share our work with you—though it is still very much in progress.

If you are building user experience for WinFX® applications on the Windows® platform, this tool is a great start. Future versions of Expression Interactive Designer may be optimized for other platforms such as the Web and mobile devices.

This release of Expression Interactive Designer is a great way to experiment and begin familiarizing yourself with the tool, but we do not recommend using it for production work. We welcome you try its innovative features such as rich 2D & 3D graphics, animation, dynamic layout, data binding, style & template editing, and resource management.

Because this is an unfinished product, some knowledge of WinFX (see the Windows Presentation Foundation section) and .NET programming will help you when working with this CTP. You can get a free copy of Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005 Express here."