Holiday Savings in the US Microsoft Online Store -- 50% Off Expression Web

Question

For a limited time, US customers can shop the Microsoft Online Store for Microsoft Expression Web, Expression Blend, and Expression Studio and get 50% off.

• Expression Web Upgrade $49.95 
  Create modern, standards-based web sites and applications using CSS + XHTML, ASP.NET, PHP
  
  
• Expression Blend Upgrade $49.95
  Create rich interactive and web applications for WPF and Silverlight
  
  
• Expression Studio Upgrade $174.95
  Get Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Media, Expression Encoder, and Expression Design in one package
  
  

Chances are good that you qualify for the Upgrade pricing if you have any existing web design or creative software. 

[Note: Pricing and specials are set on a locale-by-locale basis.  This deal applies only to US customers of the Microsoft Online Store and is valid only for a limited time.]

Upgrade Pricing Eligibility

Here's the clarification I got on upgrade pricing eligibility for this offer:

Upgrade pricing eligibility for Expression Blend and Expression Studio, for this limited time offer, includes owners of:

 

• Licensed copy of any version of any Expression Product

OR

• Adobe Creative Suite - any version
• Adobe/Macromedia Flash or Director - any version
• Visual Studio® Standard & Professional – any version
• CorelDraw X3, X4

Upgrade pricing eligibility for Expression Web includes owners of:

 

• Licensed copy of an earlier version of Expression Web

OR

• Adobe Creative Suite - any version
• Adobe/Macromedia Flash or Director - any version
• Adobe/Macromedia Dreamweaver - any version
• Adobe GoLive - any version
• Microsoft Office - any version
• Microsoft FrontPage® - any version
• Quark QuarkXPress - any version

Answer 1

Chances are good that you qualify for the Upgrade pricing if you have any existing web design or creative software. 

[Note: Pricing and specials are set on a locale-by-locale basis.  This deal applies only to US customers of the Microsoft Online Store and is valid only for a limited time.]

Hmm, apparently not that good. I already have EW2, as well as the full Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium, so I am not interested in the studio package. However, at $49.95 I thought that I might dabble with Blend. Unfortunately, on the offer page is the following:

• Before you buy
• This upgrade is available to qualifying owners of a licensed copy of an earlier version of Expression Blend.

So, it appears that MS is not interested in trying to lure any of us Adobe suite users into the fold for Blend. Rather odd, I would think, given the relative penetration of Flash and Silverlight, and the generous qualifiers allowed for Expression Web upgrades. You would think that the same reasoning that opened EW2 up to pretty much everyone in sight might apply to Blend, as well. Still, it's their toy box, I suppose, and if they want to keep us out of it, hokay by me.

Lori, since you are an MS employee, and can presumably get someone's ear who has a pulse and knows the answers, how about checking to see if they really meant to make this offer and then to so restrict its eligibility conditions. At this point in time (eight months after release), I would imagine that anyone who would qualify under the stated condition, and who would be interested in upgrading, has already upgraded, don'tcha think?

cheers,
scott

P.S. I also couldn't find any upgrade qualification information for the Expression Studio package at the pages pointed to by the offer. Wonder what those quals are... ?

Answer 2

Thanks, Scott!

I'm checking to get a definitive answer to your question about the upgrade qualifications and offer conditions.  I'll post an update when I get a clear answer.

I've also passed along your comments.

Appreciate it!
Lori

Answer 3

Hi Scott,

I just got the upgrade pricing eligibility clarified for this offer and posted it above.  Thanks for asking the question!  Hope I'll see you over on the Blend forums.

Cheers,
Lori

Upgrade Pricing Eligibility

Here's the clarification I got on upgrade pricing eligibility for this offer:

Upgrade pricing eligibility for Expression Blend and Expression Studio, for this limited time offer, includes owners of:

 

• Licensed copy of any version of any Expression Product

OR

• Adobe Creative Suite - any version
• Adobe/Macromedia Flash or Director - any version
• Visual Studio® Standard & Professional – any version
• CorelDraw X3, X4

Upgrade pricing eligibility for Expression Web includes owners of:

 

• Licensed copy of an earlier version of Expression Web

OR

• Adobe Creative Suite - any version
• Adobe/Macromedia Flash or Director - any version
• Adobe/Macromedia Dreamweaver - any version
• Adobe GoLive - any version
• Microsoft Office - any version
• Microsoft FrontPage® - any version
• Quark QuarkXPress - any version

Answer 4

Most excellent! Thank you, Lori! I had even called "The Microsoft Store" 877 number and the nice lady I spoke to there was unable to help with this question. She basically said she had to go with what was in the system, and as far as she knew at the time we spoke, a previous version of Blend was the qualifier.

I'll be heading over to pick it up as soon as I finish this. Sounds as if it might be a nice adjunct to EW2/VWD/VS 2008 Standard, and a good alternative to Spry/Flash, although having not yet ever worked with it, I'm not entirely sure how everything fits together. Guess I'll find out, eh?  ;-)

cheers,
scott

Answer 5

Transaction complete! Oddly enough, unlike Expression Web, there was no electronic download offered, only shipped retail. No biggie; I'd just as soon have the hard media anyway. I suppose that there is probably a trial download somewhere I can have a look at while I wait, and that I can activate the trial when the retail version arrives just by entering my retail key, as I did with EW2.

This should be interesting... ;-)

cheers,
scott

Answer 6

Great!

We have the Blend Trial Download here.

You can get pointers in the Blend Forum, we've got a collection of Blend Learning Resources on the site, and you can search on all our videos over at Microsoft Video.

I haven't yet read Victor Gaudioso's book Foundation Expression Blend 2: Building Applications in Silverlight and WPF, but I've heard great things about it for folks who are getting started.  It might be worth checking out.

Cheers,
Lori

Answer 7

Thanks Lori!

I just ordered Blend. The purchase went without a hitch. The boxed version should be here in a few days.

Merry Christmas to you!

-Preston

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Columbia, CA. USA http://www.gildedmoon.com

Answer 8

Glad to hear it, Preston!

Happiest of holidays!

Answer 9

Preston B said:

Thanks Lori!

I just ordered Blend. The purchase went without a hitch. The boxed version should be here in a few days.

Merry Christmas to you!

-Preston

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Columbia, CA. USA http://www.gildedmoon.com

It may be sooner than you think! I ordered mine at 11:28 PM Monday night (basically, Midnight) and UPS delivered it about 15 minutes ago! That's just about 36-hour service.

Now to see if they've got their activation engine set up to allow me to install it...

cheers,
scott

Answer 10

Just as a confirmation of the qualification criteria, I installed and activated the retail box upgrade version I received a few minutes ago without issue (and without owning a previous version of Expression Blend ;-). If you're considering trying this product out, now might be a good time to do so.  ;-)

Oh, and another feature not mentioned (for some reason??) in the promo stuff is that a copy of and license for Visual Studio 2008 Standard (NOT Express) comes in the box. Some of you may know that VS Standard includes capabilities not available in the free Express version (such as the full MSDN Help and SQL Server Reporting Services); see comparison chart here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vs2005/aa700921.aspx, and that owning VS Standard or Pro is qualifying for some other products or upgrades. Expression Blend 2 and Visual Studio 2008 Standard for $49.95. Just thought you might want to know...

cheers,
scott

Answer 11

"Oh, and another feature not mentioned (for some reason??) in the promo stuff is that a copy of and license for Visual Studio 2008 Standard (NOT Express) comes in the box."

Sweet!

Those of us who already have some of the 'VS Express' apps (including SQLServer Express) should read up on potential pitfalls of parallel installs. But that's another topic...for another day...

Thanks, Scott,

-Preston 

---

Columbia, CA. USA http://www.gildedmoon.com

Answer 12

Do you know if this offer is available through any retail outlets; or, do you anywhere on line that it can be paid for with a money order?

Answer 13

I'm sorry, the offer is only available through the Microsoft Online Store.

Cheers,
Lori

Answer 14

RainPure said:

Do you know if this offer is available through any retail outlets; or, do you anywhere on line that it can be paid for with a money order?

[On the presumption that you either don't have a credit card or don't trust online transactions... ]

If you have a friend or relative who routinely transacts online, you might consider asking them to handle the transaction and just give them the cash. FWIW, I have been dealing online literally for years and have never had a problem.

cheers,
scott

Answer 15

paladun said:

Just as a confirmation of the qualification criteria, I installed and activated the retail box upgrade version I received a few minutes ago without issue (and without owning a previous version of Expression Blend ;-). If you're considering trying this product out, now might be a good time to do so.  ;-)

Oh, and another feature not mentioned (for some reason??) in the promo stuff is that a copy of and license for Visual Studio 2008 Standard (NOT Express) comes in the box. Some of you may know that VS Standard includes capabilities not available in the free Express version (such as the full MSDN Help and SQL Server Reporting Services); see comparison chart here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vs2005/aa700921.aspx, and that owning VS Standard or Pro is qualifying for some other products or upgrades. Expression Blend 2 and Visual Studio 2008 Standard for $49.95. Just thought you might want to know...

cheers,
scott

I own Expression Web and VWD Express (the later being free, as you know)

Are you saying the buying blend for the $49.95 somehow gets me Visual Studio 2008 standard?

---

QVP, HomePage Doctor CHO, http://www.homepagedoctor.com/ExpressionTutorials/Tutorials.htm

Answer 16

ClarkNK said:

paladun said:

Just as a confirmation of the qualification criteria, I installed and activated the retail box upgrade version I received a few minutes ago without issue (and without owning a previous version of Expression Blend ;-). If you're considering trying this product out, now might be a good time to do so.  ;-)

Oh, and another feature not mentioned (for some reason??) in the promo stuff is that a copy of and license for Visual Studio 2008 Standard (NOT Express) comes in the box. Some of you may know that VS Standard includes capabilities not available in the free Express version (such as the full MSDN Help and SQL Server Reporting Services); see comparison chart here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vs2005/aa700921.aspx, and that owning VS Standard or Pro is qualifying for some other products or upgrades. Expression Blend 2 and Visual Studio 2008 Standard for $49.95. Just thought you might want to know...

cheers,
scott

I own Expression Web and VWD Express (the later being free, as you know)

Are you saying the buying blend for the $49.95 somehow gets me Visual Studio 2008 standard?

---

QVP, HomePage Doctor CHO, http://www.homepagedoctor.com/ExpressionTutorials/Tutorials.htm

Yup! A nice Microsoft-style holographic-skinned DVD labeled "Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition," with a smaller label, "Includes MSDN Library," comes in the box, along with separate license key stickers for Expression Blend 2 and Visual Studio 2008 Standard. What a deal, eh?!

So, yeah, that's pretty much the situation. VS 2008 Standard and EB2 for fifty bucks. What're ya waitin' for?  ;-)

cheers,
scott

P.S. Visit the MS Downloads Center after you install. Service Packs were just released for VS 2008, Expression Blend, dotNet framework 3.5, and Silverlight SDK, so you'll be doing a good bit of updating after you install the primary packages. You must install the EB2 SP1 if you wish to develop for Silverlight 2, as that support is included in the SP.

Answer 17

OK I'm in. It's my New Year's present to myself.

Hard to believe Visual Studio Standard being included -- on the checkout page they even say that customers who bought the Blend package also bought Visual Studio $299.

So ok, that would be a mistake!

Thanks for the tip.

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QVP, HomePage Doctor CHO, http://www.homepagedoctor.com/ExpressionTutorials/Tutorials.htm

Answer 18

LOL...Thanks for the plug Lori!  Victor 

Answer 19

Anytime, Victor.  It was sincere, and based on real feedback from creative professionals I respect and trust.  Thanks for writing a great book for folks looking to learn Blend!

Happy holidays, everyone!

Cheers,
Lori

Answer 20

Preston B said:

Those of us who already have some of the 'VS Express' apps (including SQLServer Express) should read up on potential pitfalls of parallel installs. But that's another topic...for another day...

Thanks, Scott,

-Preston 

---

Columbia, CA. USA http://www.gildedmoon.com

Would you care to expand on that? 

Issues for someone using VWD and SQLServer Express editions who installs Visual Studio 2008 Standard?

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QVP, HomePage Doctor CHO, http://www.homepagedoctor.com/ExpressionTutorials/Tutorials.htm

Answer 21

Hi Clark,

My meaning is that those of us who have any/all of the VS Express apps may run into installation (or other issues) when we install VS Standard. My note was basically cautionary. I haven't researched to see if there are, or may be, issues, but I will do so before I run off willy-nillie installing VS. It's like the old, "Measure twice, cut once." concept.

Questions that arise are: Would I need to uninstall Visual Basic Express 2008 SP1 and VWD 2008 SP1? Would I need to uninstall SQL Server 2005 Express and SQL Server Management Studio Express before installing VS Standard?

I am not looking for the answers on the EW forum, because this isn't the appropriate venue. That said, if anyone does have the answers, or a link, I'd really appreciate an e-mail. preston at gildedmoon.com .

If I turn up any info, I will share it, for sure.

Happy New Year to All! :-)

-Preston

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Columbia, CA. USA http://www.gildedmoon.com

Answer 22

Is this offer valid for Canadians?

Answer 23

RichardFH said:

Is this offer valid for Canadians?

Unfortunately, I do not believe so. I think that it is limited to the US. OTOH, if you know anyone with a US address... ;-)

cheers,
scott

Answer 24

Lori,

Is there an expiration date for this offer? If there is, I cannot find it. I've referred a few of my photographer friends to this sale, and would like to be able to tell them when the offer expires.

Thanks!

-P

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Columbia, CA. USA http://www.gildedmoon.com

Answer 25

Hi Preston,

I know the offer is for "a limited time", and I haven't heard a date-certain end date.

I'm expecting the offer to last at least through 1/5, and I've set this thread to "unstick" then (unless I get new info before then).

Sorry I can't give you a more precise answer.  :-)

Happy New Year!

Cheers,
Lori


PS:  Expression Media is super cool, your photographer friends might want to look into the upgrade to Expression Studio, which includes Expression Media.

Answer 26

Thanks for the info, Lori. I have already referred a few friends to Expression Media. Heck, I may even purchase it for my own use! I have been using Adobe Bridge, but it is slow as molasses in a snow storm, so any improvement in speed and organizational functions will be most welcome. 'E-Media' looks nice.

Thanks again,

-Preston

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Columbia, CA. USA http://www.gildedmoon.com

Answer 27

Last day for 50% off of Expression Web (or Expression Studio or Expression Blend) is Saturday, January 31, 2009

http://blogs.msdn.com/xweb/archive/2009/01/21/last-day-to-get-expression-programs-for-half-their-original-sales-price-is-january-31-2009.aspx

Anna

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http://blogs.msdn.com/anna

Answer 28

They were out of stock on the studio upgrade and now the price is backup and they won't sell it to me for the discount price. :(  Please bring it back!!

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R1E

Answer 29

BrianPini said:

They were out of stock on the studio upgrade and now the price is backup and they won't sell it to me for the discount price. :(  Please bring it back!!

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R1E

Just go to eBay, type in Microsoft Expression Studio 2 (link is a test), and you'll find plenty of them for around $115.00 shipped to your door, which beats the price I found at amazon by a wide margin.  If you go the eBay route, just make sure it's a reputable seller with retail unopened packages, etc.  Feedback scores count for a lot and you're often better paying more to a guy with a good record than going for a cheaper price with an unproven seller.

HTH

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Chris Leeds
Facebook
Microsoft Press "Expression Web Step by Step"

Answer 30

I was looking at ebay and from a quick look they all seemed to be academic versions.

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R1E