I read this article yesterday about how Microsoft has released a beta of a program that is “bringing together pixel-based painting and vector graphics features”. This would mostly be a rival of Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator. I thought this was interesting, especially when complaints about the newly released beta are that its poor quality is basically a “glorified version of Paint”.

Microsoft’s software – “Acrylic” – is available as a free download and currently does not work on Macs. (Note to Microsoft: if you want to get into the graphic design industry, you HAVE to make your programs available on Mac!) Of course, that could be coming… Microsoft is also currently making a program called “Metro” that will rival Adobe’s PDF capabilities.

I don’t know how I feel about this… I feel that if a company was trying to break into the graphic design software world, then perhaps a company that can focus on Mac compatibility would be better. Or perhaps Microsoft isn’t even trying to get into this industry, but rather reach the non-designers who use PCs but still like having high-end software?

I’m still an Adobe fan and if anyone wants to get me something then click here. :-)