I know, I know, I know

Not an auspicious start is it? I want everyone to know that we're as frustrated by the ongoing download problems as you all are. And rest assured, everything is being done to identify the cause and rectify it as soon as possible. Let me reassure everyone that the problem is nothing to do with the build itself, nor the EWD engineering team - it simply appears to be a server farm problem that is out of our direct control. Let's hope I can report something more positive tomorrow!

Microsoft Expression Web Designer - CTP Live

Well the long wait is over, the speculation can end - it's live! You can now download the first Customer Technology Preview (CTP) of Expression Web Designer. We're really proud of this first release, it's absolutely jam packed with features we want you to try out. Whilst it's hard to know where to begin, we certainly suggest you have a look at all the core CSS functionality within the tool. There's lots to look at, from the creation of styles right through to the management and reporting functions. And if you've never worked with ASP.NET, especially version 2, now's your chance to do so right from inside a web design tool for designers. I'm going to leave it here for today, I want you to download it first! Pop back over the next few days and I'll give you some more things to try out...