Microsoft this week released a beta version of its Web design tool, Microsoft Expression Web, formerly known as Expression Web Designer.

The company decided to shorten the name in an effort to simplify branding. The beta, which is the second preview release of Expression Web, is available as a free download on the Expression Web site. However, the beta still identifies the product as Expression Web Designer.

Expression Web features CSS-based (Cascading Style Sheets) layout, standards compliance and ASP.Net 2.0 server technology.

The beta release of Expression Web removes some features that relied on FrontPage Server Extensions. This signifies a big step further to making Expression Web a complete professional Web design tool, the company said.

Other members of the Microsoft Expression family include Expression Graphic Designer and Expression Interactive Designer. All the Expression products are in a pre-release stage. Microsoft has not yet set dates for general availability of the final products.

Info soured from InfoWorld